STORY WRITTEN FOR & USED WITH PERMISSIONPosted: October 27, 2004PASADENA, Calif. - After years of anticipation, the Cassini spacecraft beamed back smog-piercing close-up images of Saturn’s moon Titan late Tuesday, revealing a strange, striated landscape that both thrilled - and mystified - planetary scientists. This image taken by Cassini’s visual and infrared mapping spectrometer clearly shows surface features on Titan. It is a composite of false-color images taken at three infrared wavelengths: 2 microns (blue); 2.7 microns (red); and 5 microns (green). A methane cloud can be seen at the south pole (top of image). This picture was obtained as Cassini flew by Titan at altitudes ranging from 100,000 to 140,000 kilometers (88,000 to 63,000 miles), less than two hours before the spacecraft’s closest approach. The inset picture shows the landing site of Cassini’s piggybacked Huygens probe. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona Download larger image version The initial images, discussed at a news conference today, show sharply defined bright and dark regions that may be blanketed by a thin layer of transparent or translucent material that presumably settled out of the atmosphere or was deposited by some other transport mechanism.Other than a 600-mile-wide formation near the south pole, few clouds are present and no large craters are apparent, indicating tectonic, volcanic or depositional processes are at work that have resurfaced the moon on a global scale.But so far, there is no evidence of lakes or pools of liquid ethane and similar materials that many scientists believe must be present given the moon’s ultra-low temperature, high atmospheric pressure and hydrocarbon chemistry.In short, Titan’s mysteries withstood Cassini’s initial scientific assault.”We’ve been saying for a long time now that Titan was the largest expanse of unexplored terrain in the solar system,” said imaging team leader Carolyn Porco, a leading expert on Saturn’s rings. “And what remains hidden under the atmosphere and under the haze, the conditions at its surface, its geological history and so on are, at least in my mind, the solar system’s last great mystery.”Even though Cassini’s cameras operated flawlessly and even though conditions were optimal for imaging, “I have to report that we are still mystified and we are not quite sure what we’re looking at,” Porco said. “There isn’t much we are absolutely, definitively confident about right now.”She might as well have paraphrased Winston Churchill’s 1939 comment about the former Soviet Union: “It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.”Cassini entered orbit around Saturn in June after a seven-year voyage from Earth. The $3 billion spacecraft made its first of 45 planned flybys of Titan late Tuesday, streaking past the cloudy moon at an altitude of just 745 miles. Using filters to peer through the hydrocarbon haze that blankets the satellite, Cassini snapped dozens of pictures that raised as many questions as they answered.”This image has been processed, it’s been sharpened, it’s been contrast enhanced and there it is,” Porco said, displaying one such photo. “We don’t know exactly what we’re looking at. There are sharp boundaries between the dark regions and the bright regions, there … are white things that stick out, they kind of look like islands sticking out of the dark material.”But frankly, there is no topography in our images,” she said. “We do not see shadows on the surface of Titan. And because we don’t see shadows, we can’t look at an image like this and immediately deduce topographic information, what’s up and what’s down. Everything here … could be perfectly flat. Maybe what we’re seeing is just bright material, dark material, all at the same level. But we don’t know.”Radar data from Cassini will help fill in many of those blanks and researchers plan to present their initial findings Thursday. Scientists said the first processed image was spectacular. This image shows Titan in ultraviolet and infrared wavelengths. It was taken by Cassini’s imaging science subsystem on Oct. 26 and is constructed from four images acquired through different color filters. Red and green colors represent infrared wavelengths and show areas where atmospheric methane absorbs light. These colors reveal a brighter (redder) northern hemisphere. Blue represents ultraviolet wavelengths and shows the high atmosphere and detached hazes. Titan has a gigantic atmosphere, extending hundreds of kilometers above the surface. The sharp variations in brightness on Titan’s surface (and clouds near the south pole) are apparent at infrared wavelengths. The image scale of this picture is 6.4 kilometers (4 miles) per pixel. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science InstituteDownload larger image version Along with carrying out a general reconnaissance of Titan, Cassini collected data on the density of the moon’s atmosphere that will help engineers determine whether future flybys can be safely conducted at even lower altitudes. More important, those data also will be used to refine the entry angle of the European Space Agency’s Huygens probe, scheduled to slam into Titan’s atmosphere in January for a parachute descent to the surface.At today’s briefing, Porco concentrated on the pictures. She said that despite the moon’s lack of extensive cloud cover, “we’ve deduced that Titan is a super rotator, it means the cloud speeds, the wind speeds in the middle and the upper troposphere, are going faster than you would get if you just accounted simply for the conservation of angular momentum as a cloud basically developed from a convective parcel of air. This is the same case as for Venus.”But the most intriguing features to her were linear streaks on the surface that indicate some sort of active process at work.”What we can confidently say about the structures we are seeing on the surface is there are linear trends, there are streaks or perhaps there are cracks in the bedrock ice of titan, we don’t know,” Porco said. “But there are linear features and we see this in lots of regions where we look in high resolution. And again, not quite exactly sure what it’s telling us, whether it’s a tectonic process we’re looking at or it’s (wind related).”What we can say from those images is the surface seems to be a young surface. We see very few circular features that one might interpret as craters. In fact, that doesn’t even mean they’re not there. If the surface is coated at this viewing geometry with no shadows, if the surface was coated completely with a uniform material, we wouldn’t see any craters anyway even if they were there.”It’s going to take combining all these data together, it’s going to take our stereo imaging, which will give us topography, it’s going to take a combination of the (infrared imaging spectrometer) and the radar in order to really pick out whether we’re seeing highs or lows and so on. There’s a lot of work left to do. Our reconnaissance of Titan, our exploration of Titan, is really just beginning.”Imaging spectrometer team leader Robert Brown said his instrument also showed “a lot of complex structure on Titan’s surface, a lot of strong margins between bright and dark regions.”"We’re not exactly sure what the composition of the bright and dark regions are but some of the preliminary indications we’ve gotten from VIMS (Visual Imaging Spectrometer) suggest that even though there are differences between bright and dark, which are roughly a factor of two, that the composition of those bright and dark regions are not all that different, which is not what we expected.”It’s a bit hard to understand because their albedos are so different,” he said. “But one way that can happen is you could coat the bright material and the dark material with a material which would mask the composition of the substrate, but you could see through it partially. So it may be some sort of a coating effect.”For now, no one knows.”I think we’re going to have to wait several flybys,” Porco said, “maybe even several years, before we get a really good indication of what’s going on.”Cassini posterJust in time for the Cassini spacecraft’s arrival at Saturn, this new poster celebrates the mission to explore the ringed planet and its moons. 2005 CalendarThe 2005 edition of the Universe of the Hubble Space Telescope calendar is available from our U.S. store and will soon be available worldwide. This 12×12-inch calendar features spectacular images from the orbiting observatory.Moon panoramaTaken by Apollo 14 commander Alan Shepard, this panoramic poster shows lunar module pilot Edgar Mitchell as a brilliant Sun glare reflects off the lunar module Antares.Mars Rover mission patchA mission patch featuring NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover is now available from the Astronomy Now Store.Apollo 11 special patchSpecial collectors’ patch marking the 35th anniversary of the historic Apollo 11 moon landing is now available.Choose your store: - | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Scientists elated with quality of data from Huygens BY WILLIAM HARWOOD

Posted: June 17, 2008T-00:00LiftoffThe Delta 2 rocket’s main engine and twin vernier steering thrusters are started moments before launch. The three strap-on solid rocket motors are ignited at T-0 to begin the mission.T+01:04.0SRB BurnoutThe ground-start Alliant TechSystems-built solid rocket motors consume all their propellant and burn out.T+01:39.0Jettison SRBsThe spent solid rocket boosters are jettisoned to fall into the Pacific Ocean. The spent casings remained attached until the vehicle passed into preset drop zone, clear of offshore oil platforms.T+01:40.0Begin Dog-legAfter initially flying from Vandenberg along a 196-degree flight azimuth, the rocket begins steering itself to obtain the desired orbital inclination. This dog-leg maneuver continues for 40 seconds.T+04:24.2Main Engine CutoffAfter consuming its RP-1 fuel and liquid oxygen, the Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne RS-27A first stage main engine is shut down. The vernier engines cut off moments later.T+04:32.2Stage SeparationThe Delta rocket’s first stage is separated now, having completed its job. The spent stage will fall into the Pacific Ocean.T+04:37.7Second Stage IgnitionWith the stage jettisoned, the rocket’s second stage takes over. The Aerojet AJ118-K liquid-fueled engine ignites for the first of two firings needed to place the Jason 2 spacecraft into the proper orbit.T+04:54.0Jettison Payload FairingThe 10-foot diameter payload fairing that protected the Jason 2 cargo atop the Delta 2 during the atmospheric ascent is jettisoned is two halves.T+10:27.4Second Stage Cutoff 1The second stage engine shuts down to complete its first firing of the launch. The rocket and attached spacecraft are now in a long coast period before the second stage reignites. The orbit achieved should be 763 nautical miles at apogee, 100 miles at perigee and inclined 66.47 degrees.T+48:50.5Second Stage RestartDelta’s second stage engine reignites for a short firing to raise the orbit’s perigee.T+49:14.7Second Stage Cutoff 2The second stage shuts down after a 24-second burn. The orbit achieved should be 718 nautical miles at its highest point, 711 miles at the lowest and inclined 66.03 degrees.T+55:00.0Payload SeparationThe Jason 2 spacecraft for the Ocean Surface Topography Mission is released from the Delta 2 rocket, completing the launch.Data source: ULA.Final Shuttle Mission PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The crew emblem for the final space shuttle mission is now available in our store. Get this piece of history!STS-134 PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The final planned flight of space shuttle Endeavour is symbolized in the official embroidered crew patch for STS-134. Available in our store!Ares 1-X PatchThe official embroidered patch for the Ares 1-X rocket test flight, is available for purchase.Apollo CollageThis beautiful one piece set features the Apollo program emblem surrounded by the individual mission logos.Project OrionThe Orion crew exploration vehicle is NASA’s first new human spacecraft developed since the space shuttle a quarter-century earlier. The capsule is one of the key elements of returning astronauts to the Moon.Fallen Heroes Patch CollectionThe official patches from Apollo 1, the shuttle Challenger and Columbia crews are available in the store. | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Delta 335 launch timelineSPACEFLIGHT NOW

STORY WRITTEN FOR & USED WITH PERMISSIONPosted: January 14, 2005Robert Mitchell, NASA’s Cassini program manager at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., says the loss of one telemetry stream from the Huygens Titan probe appears to be the result of an actual problem of some sort on board the spacecraft.”The evidence we have a problem on chain A is pretty clear,” he said. “I don’t think the continuing playback (of Huygens data from Cassini) is going to resolve that problem. We just need to sort out what happened with it.”Engineers at the European Space Agency’s Space Operations Center in Germany are receiving data from Huygens on chain, or channel, B but not from chain A. Both systems are identical and scientists should receive almost all of the desired data from chain B, Mitchell said.”The way the probe system works, there are two transmitters on the probe and there are two separate receivers on the orbiter so we have two separate, distinct data links between the probe and the orbiter,” he said. “These data links were deigned to be largely redundant, not 100 percent, but nearly so.”The way we sit now, it’s clear that the B channel is coming in loud and clear and up to this point, we haven’t missed a single data packet. Now on the A channel, we do have a problem and we’re still sorting out what happened thre. But this, I think, will be only a minor lien on the significance of the success that’s been accomplished here just because of the redundancy between the two sides.”Of course, the reason you put redundancy in the design to begin with is to make yourself resilient to whatever may have happened here,” Mitchell said. “So we’re still sorting out exactly what happened to the A chain, but we’ve got at least most of the data we expected to get.”Video coverage for subscribers only:VIDEO:STATUS REPORT DURING DESCENT AUDIO:TODAY’S STATUS REPORT DURING DESCENT VIDEO:HUYGENS PRE-ARRIVAL NEWS BRIEFING AUDIO:HUYGENS PRE-ARRIVAL NEWS BRIEFING VIDEO:OVERVIEW OF HUYGENS PROBE’S SCIENCE OBJECTIVES VIDEO:JULY NEWS BRIEFING ON CASSINI’S PICTURES OF TITAN VIDEO:PICTURES SHOWING TITAN SURFACE FROM OCT. FLYBY VIDEO:WHAT’S KNOWN ABOUT TITAN BEFORE THE FIRST FLYBY VIDEO:NARRATED MOVIE OF CLOUDS MOVING NEAR SOUTH POLE VIDEO:OCT. BRIEFING ON RADAR IMAGES OF TITAN SURFACE Ares 1-X PatchThe official embroidered patch for the Ares 1-X rocket test flight, is available for purchase.Apollo CollageThis beautiful one piece set features the Apollo program emblem surrounded by the individual mission logos.Expedition 21The official embroidered patch for the International Space Station Expedition 21 crew is now available from our stores.Hubble PatchThe official embroidered patch for mission STS-125, the space shuttle’s last planned service call to the Hubble Space Telescope, is available for purchase. | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Out from the shadows: Two new Saturnian moons CASSINI PHOTO RELEASEPosted: August 16, 2004With eyes sharper than any that have peered at Saturn before, the Cassini spacecraft has uncovered two moons, which may be the smallest bodies so far seen around the ringed planet. This image shows the tiny ‘worldlet,’ temporarily dubbed S/2004 S1, as it makes its way around the planet. A white box frames the moon’s location in the image. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science InstituteThe moons are approximately 3 kilometers (2 miles) and 4kilometers (2.5 miles) across — smaller than the city ofBoulder, Colorado. The moons, located 194,000 kilometers(120,000 miles) and 211,000 kilometers (131,000 miles) from theplanet’s center, are between the orbits of two other saturnianmoons, Mimas and Enceladus. They are provisionally namedS/2004 S1 and S/2004 S2. One of them, S/2004 S1, may be anobject spotted in a single image taken by NASA’s Voyagerspacecraft 23 years ago, called at that time S/1981 S14.”One of our major objectives in returning to Saturn was tosurvey the entire system for new bodies,” said Dr. CarolynPorco, imaging team leader, Space Science Institute, Boulder,Colo. Porco planned the imaging sequences. “So, it’s reallygratifying to know that among all the other fantasticdiscoveries we will make over the next four years, we can nowadd the confirmation of two new moons, skipping unnoticedaround Saturn for billions of years until just now.?The moons were first seen by Dr. Sebastien Charnoz, a planetarydynamicist working with Dr. Andre Brahic, imaging team memberat the University of Paris. “Discovering these faintsatellites was an exciting experience, especially the feelingof being the first person to see a new body of our solarsystem,” said Charnoz. “I had looked for such objects forweeks while at my office in Paris, but it was only once onholiday, using my laptop, that my code eventually detectedthem. This tells me I should take more holidays.”The smallest previously known moons around Saturn are about 20kilometers (12 miles) across. Scientists expected that moonsas small as S/2004 S1 and S/2004 S2 might be found within gapsin the rings and perhaps near the F ring, so they weresurprised these small bodies are between two major moons. Smallcomets careening around the outer solar system would beexpected to collide with small moons and break them to bits. This shows the second new ‘worldlet,’ temporarily dubbed S/2004 S2. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science InstituteThe fact that these moons exist where they do might providelimits on the number of small comets in the outer solar system,a quantity essential for understanding the Kuiper Belt ofcomets beyond Neptune, and the cratering histories of the moonsof the giant planets.”A comet striking an inner moon of Saturn moves many timesfaster than a speeding bullet,” said Dr. Luke Dones, an imagingteam member from the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder,Colo. “If small, house-sized comets are common, these moonsshould have been blown apart many times by cometary impactsduring the history of the solar system. The disrupted moonwould form a ring, and then most of the material wouldeventually gather back together into a moon. However, if smallcomets are rare, as they seem to be in the Jupiter system, thenew moons might have survived since the early days of the solarsystem.”Moons surrounding the giant planets generally are not foundwhere they originally formed because tidal forces from theplanet can cause them to drift from their original locations.In drifting, they may sweep through locations where other moonsdisturb them, making their orbits eccentric or inclinedrelative to the planet’s equator. One of the new moons mighthave undergone such an evolution.Upcoming imaging sequences will scour the gaps in Saturn’srings in search of moons believed to be there. Meanwhile,Cassini scientists are eager to get a closer look, if at allpossible, at their new finds. Porco said, “We are at this verymoment looking to see what the best times are for retargeting.Hopefully, we haven’t seen the last of them.”The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA,the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The JetPropulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Instituteof Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini-Huygens missionfor NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. TheCassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed,developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based atthe Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo.Ares 1-X PatchThe official embroidered patch for the Ares 1-X rocket test flight, is available for purchase.Apollo CollageThis beautiful one piece set features the Apollo program emblem surrounded by the individual mission logos.Expedition 21The official embroidered patch for the International Space Station Expedition 21 crew is now available from our stores.Hubble PatchThe official embroidered patch for mission STS-125, the space shuttle’s last planned service call to the Hubble Space Telescope, is available for purchase. | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Phoebe’s surface gives scientists clues to its origin CASSINI PHOTO RELEASEPosted: June 14, 2004Images collected during Cassini’s close flyby of Saturn’s moon, Phoebe, have yielded strong evidence that the tiny object may contain ice-rich material, overlain with a thin layer of darker material perhaps 300 to 500 meters (980 to 1,600 feet) thick. The surface of Phoebe is also heavily potholed with large and small craters. Images revealbright streaks in the ramparts of the largest craters, bright rays which emanate from smaller craters, and uninterrupted grooves across the face of the body.”The imaging team is in hot debate at the moment on the interpretations of our findings,” said Dr. Carolyn Porco, Cassini imaging team leader at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. “Based on our images, some of us are leaning towards the view that has been promoted recently, that Phoebe is probably ice-rich and may be an object originating in the outer solar system, more related to comets and Kuiper Belt objects than to asteroids.”In ascertaining Phoebe’s origin, imaging scientists are noting important differences between the surface of Phoebe and that of rocky asteroids which have been seen at comparable resolution. “Asteroids seen up close, like Ida, Mathilde, and Eros, and the small martian satellites do not have the bright ’speckling’ associated with the small craters that are seen on Phoebe,” said Dr. Peter Thomas, an imaging team member from Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.The landforms observed in the highest resolution images also contain clues to the internal structure of Phoebe. Dr. Alfred McEwen, an imaging team member from the University of Arizona, Tucson, said, “Phoebe is a world of dramatic landforms, with craters everywhere, landslides, and linear structures such as grooves, ridges, and chains of pits. These are clues to the internal properties of Phoebe, which we’ll be looking at very closely in order to understand Phoebe’s origin and evolution.”"I think these images are showing us an ancient remnant of the bodies that formed over four billion years ago in the outer reaches of the solar system,” said Dr. Torrence Johnson, an imaging team member from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. “Battered and beat-up as it is, it is still giving us clues to its origin and history.”Phoebe may be an icy interloper from the distant outer solar system which found itself captured by giant Saturn in its earliest, formative years. Final conclusions on Phoebe’s origins await a combination of the results on Phoebe’s surface structures, mass and composition gathered from all 11 instruments, which collected data during the flyby on June 11, 2004.”This has been an impressive whirlwind flyby and it’s only a curtain raiser on the events about to begin,” said Porco. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science InstituteDownload larger image version FIRST IMAGE: Images like this one, showing bright wispy streaks thought to be ice revealed by subsidence of crater walls, are leading to the view that Phoebe is an ice-rich body overlain with a thin layer of dark material. Obvious down slope motion of material occurring along the walls of the major craters in this image is the cause for the bright streaks, which are over-exposed here. Significant slumping has occurred along the crater wall at top left. The slumping of material might have occurred by a small projectile punching into the steep slope of the wall of a pre-existing larger crater. Another possibility is that the material collapsed when triggered by another impact elsewhere on Phoebe. Note that the bright, exposed areas of ice are not very uniform along the wall. Small craters are exposing bright material on the hummocky floor of the larger crater. Elsewhere on this image, there are local areas of outcropping along the larger crater wall where denser, more resistant material is located. Whether these outcrops are large blocks being exhumed by landslides or actual ‘bedrock’ is not currently understood. The crater on the left, with most of the bright streamers, is about 45 kilometers (28 miles) in diameter, front to back as viewed. The larger depression in which the crater sits is on the order of 100 kilometers (62 miles) across. The slopes from the rim down to the hummocky floor are approximately 20 kilometers (12 miles) long; many of the bright streamers on the crater wall are on the order of 10 kilometers (6 miles) long. A future project for Cassini image scientists will be to work out the chronology of slumping events in this scene. This image was obtained at a phase, or Sun-Phoebe-spacecraft, angle of 78 degrees, and from a distance of 11,918 kilometers (7,407 miles). The image scale is approximately 70 meters (230 feet) per pixel. No enhancement was performed on this image. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science InstituteDownload larger image version SECOND IMAGE: A mosaic of two images of Saturn’s moon Phoebe taken shortly after Cassini’s flyby on June 11, 2004, gives a close-up view of a region near its South Pole. The view, taken about 13,000 kilometers (8,000 miles) from Phoebe, is about 120 kilometers (74 miles) across and shows a region battered by craters. Brighter material, likely to be ice, is exposed by small craters and streams down the slopes of large craters. The skyline is a combination of Phoebe’s shape and the formation of impact craters. Walls of some of the larger craters are more than 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) high. The image scale is 80 meters (264 feet) per pixel. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science InstituteDownload larger image version THIRD IMAGE: Shown here is a mosaic of seven of the sharpest, highest resolution images taken of Phoebe during Cassini’s close flyby of the tiny moon. The image scales range from 27 to 13 meters (90 to 43 feet) per pixel. Smaller and smaller craters can be resolved as resolution increases from left to right. The number of blocks, or bumps on the surface also increases to the right. The Sun is coming from the right, so the bright-dark pattern is reversed between blocks and small craters. Grooves or chains of pits are seen on the left portion of the mosaic, which may mark fractures or faults induced by large impact events. Many of the small craters have bright rays, similar to recent craters on the Moon. There are also bright streaks on steep slopes, perhaps where loose material slid downhill during the seismic shaking of impact events. There are also places where especially dark materials are present, perhaps rich in carbon compounds. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science InstituteDownload larger image version FOURTH IMAGE: On June 11, 2004, during its closest approach to Phoebe, Cassini obtained this extremely high resolution view of a dark, desolate landscape. Regions of different reflectivity are clearly visible on what appears to be a gently rolling surface. Notable are several bright-rayed impact craters, lots of small craters with bright-colored floors and light-colored streaks across the landscape. Note also the several sharply defined craters — probably fairly young features — near the upper left corner. This high-resolution image was obtained at a phase, or Sun-Phoebe-spacecraft, angle of 30.7 degrees, and from a distance of approximately 2,365 kilometers (1,470 miles). The image scale is approximately 14 meters (46 feet) per pixel. The image was high-pass filtered to bring out small scale features and then enhanced in contrast. Fallen Heroes special patchThis special 12-inch embroidered patch commemorates the U.S. astronauts who made the ultimate sacrifice, honoring the crews of Apollo 1, Challenger and Columbia.Choose your store: - - - Moon RushThis book examines how the exploration of space, specifically a commercial base on the Moon and Mars would transform our economies on the Earth as surely as the discovery of the New World transformed the old world of Europe.Choose your store: - - - Apollo 11 special patchSpecial collectors’ patch marking the 35th anniversary of the historic Apollo 11 moon landing is now available.Choose your store: - - - Get inside Apollo!Full color drawings reveal like never before the details of the Apollo Command and Service Modules.Choose your store: - - - | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Pictures show active world shaped by cryogenic liquids BY WILLIAM HARWOOD

Posted: January 5, 2011 The Orbiter Maintenance and Checkout Facility was constructed on North Vandenberg to house the space shuttle for postflight deservicing and preflight preparations before moving to the launch pad. The prototype orbiter Enterprise is pictured here in the OMCF during testing of the hangar.Credit: William G. Hartenstein photos Credit: William G. Hartenstein photos | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Spaceflight Now +Subscribe to Spaceflight Now Plus for access to our extensive video collections!”Chandra’s Universe”NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory is providing new insights into the frontier of X-ray astronomy.Station’s new toiletSpace station commander Mike Fincke shows the new U.S. toilet installed aboard the complex. The astronauts are preparing the station for larger crews beginning in 2009.The Phoenix missionThis video provides a recap of the Mars lander Phoenix and the spacecraft’s mission to the frozen northern plains of the Red Planet to dig up samples of the soil and water ice.”Debrief: Apollo 8″This is the story of NASA’s first journey in orbit around the Moon with comments on the significance of the Apollo 8 flight by several prominent Americans.The Apollo 8 film reportThis is the Manned Space Flight Film Report for the mission of Apollo 8 that orbited around the Moon on Christmas in 1968.Air Force says plenty of good came from Delta 4 test SPACEFLIGHT NOWPosted: December 22, 2004While stressing the positives of Tuesday’s demonstration flight of the Boeing Delta 4-Heavy rocket and the mountain of data generated about the big booster’s actions, Air Force officials on Wednesday acknowledged an “anomaly” occurred during the first stage and two university-built nanosats were lost after not reaching orbit. The Boeing Delta 4-Heavy rocket launches from Cape Canaveral on its test flight. Credit: Tom Rogers/T-Minus ProductionsCarrying a 6.5-ton sensor-laden dummy satellite and the nanosat pair, the rocket blasted off at 4:50 p.m. EST (2150 GMT) from pad 37B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, on its maiden voyage financed by the U.S. military and Boeing.The Air Force purchased this test launch as a dress rehearsal for the Delta 4-Heavy rocket before costly national security missions begin flying atop the vehicle next year. The rocket offers the largest payload-carrying capacity currently available in the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program that includes Lockheed Martin’s Atlas 5.”The Air Force/Boeing team will spend the next two months going through the pre-planned review of flight data in preparation for the next launch,” the Air Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center said in a statement Wednesday.PHOTO GALLERY: PHOTO GALLERY: PHOTO GALLERY: PHOTO GALLERY: While climbing away from Earth, the two strap-on Common Booster Cores appeared to burn out and separate several seconds early. The center booster of the first stage finished firing and jettisoned a minute-and-a-half later, apparently early as well, leaving the rocket’s upper stage to begin a planned 7-minute engine burn to reach a targeted 100 by 135 nautical mile orbit where the tiny nanosats would be released for a one-to-two-day experimental mission.But the under-performance from the early shutdown of the Common Booster Cores left the upper stage to compensate, forcing its RL10 engine to fire longer and use more fuel than planned.The exact duration of the upper stage burn was not immediately announced in real-time as live telemetry from rocket being relayed to Cape Canaveral broke up during a handover from one tracking site to another.When the next station acquired the vehicle’s signal a couple of minutes later, the burn was over. The nanosats were to be deployed in low-Earth orbit, but the Air Force said Wednesday that the tiny craft were released at far too low of an altitude to survive.”The Nanosats were released at the proper time, demonstrating a new low-shock separation system, which will be used in future systems. In addition, the Nanosats were successfully integrated onto the DemoSat in a remarkably short four-month period, thus providing a successful demonstration of a responsive space mission,” the Air Force statement said.”However, the early shutdown resulted in separation at an altitude of approximately 57 miles, which was not sufficient to achieve orbit.”The upper stage then re-ignited for the second of three scheduled firings during the launch to reach the intended geosynchronous orbit. This burn was expected to produce an orbit with a high point of 19,650 nautical miles, low point of 148 nautical miles and inclination of 27.3 degrees. Although the exact numbers of the actual orbit reached were not formally released, Boeing indicated the altitude was close to the projections.The rocket then began a five-hour coast to reach the orbit’s high point where the final burn would occur to circularize the orbit at 19,623 nautical miles above the planet at an inclination of 10 degrees for deployment of the DemoSat primary test payload.But the stage’s fuel supply was greatly impacted by the extended maneuvers to overcome the first stage problem. Instead of firing for more than three minutes to achieve the proper orbit, the stage depleted its cryogenic propellants and shut down approximately a minute prematurely.The result was an orbit featuring a high point of approximately 19,600 nautical miles (36,400 km), low point of 9,600 nautical miles (19,000 km) and inclination of 13.5 degrees. DemoSat was released as programmed into the elliptical orbit with the low point about 10,000 miles short of the target altitude.”The EELV program office is leading an effort to determine the cause of this anomaly. The Delta 4 flight featured a substantial increase in telemetry over previous first-flight rocket launches. Engineers will be able to use this data to evaluate all aspects of the mission, including the early cutoff of the first stage. The Air Force has no plans to fly another Delta 4-Heavy flight demonstration.”Despite the trouble, the Air Force reported that the demo flight completed these primary flight objectives:Activation and launch from the heavy-version of the Delta 4 launch padFlying three Common Booster CoresSeparating the two strap-on Common Booster Cores from the center booster coreFlying the first 5-meter diameter payload fairing and separating it from the vehicleFlying the first 5-meter diameter cryogenic upper stageFlying the new upper stage through a long duration, 3-burn profile of its engine”We are very pleased with the overall performance of the Delta 4-Heavy Demo in meeting these test objectives,” said Col. John Insprucker, Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program director at the Space and Missile Systems Center and the mission director for this launch.”The EELV program and Boeing invested in today’s demonstration launch to ensure that the Delta 4-Heavy, the only EELV Heavy variant available, is ready to launch our nation’s most important national security payloads into space,” said Dan Collins, vice president of Boeing Expendable Launch Systems. “While the demonstration satellite did not reach its intended orbit, we now have enough information and confidence in the Delta 4-Heavy to move forward with preparations for the upcoming Defense Support Program launch in 2005.”The first operational Delta 4-Heavy, presently scheduled for August, will carry the final Defense Support Program craft that detects enemy missile launches and nuclear weapon detonations from space. The rocket must fly a trajectory similar to the test flight’s intended course to deliver DSP-23 directly into geostationary orbit over the equator. A problem like the one experienced Tuesday would leave the payload within an unusable orbit and uncertain of boosting itself the remaining altitude.A secret National Reconnaissance Office payload is slated to fly on the second operational Heavy mission next December. What type of orbit this cargo is destined for has not been disclosed.Beyond next year’s two launches, the long-range military outlook for Heavy missions is sparse.”The NRO still has another heavy satellite that will be ready to launch in about 2008,” Col. Insprucker said at the pre-launch news conference earlier this month. “After that we’ve got a little hiatus, I think, until probably the Transformational Communication Satellite architecture comes forward.”The Delta 4-Heavy can loft payloads comparable in weight to the Titan 4 rocket that has been in service since 1989. But that Lockheed Martin-built booster is being retired after two more flights next year from Florida and California. The Delta promises to provide launches far cheaper than Titan.Lockheed Martin’s heavy-lift Atlas 5 configuration is proceeding through development and would be ready to fly its inaugural flight 30 months from the time one is ordered, the company has said.Additional coverage for subscribers:VIDEO:FROM LIFTOFF TO BOOSTER SEPARATION VIDEO:THE DELTA 4-HEAVY LAUNCH (SHORT VERSION) VIDEO:ONBOARD CAMERA RECORDS LAUNCH VIDEO:ONBOARD CAMERA SEES BOOSTER SEPARATION VIDEO:ONBOARD CAMERA CAPTURES FAIRING JETTISON AUDIO:LISTEN TO THE 68-MINUTE PRE-LAUNCH NEWS CONFERENCE VIDEO:ANIMATION PROVIDES PREVIEW OF A DELTA 4-HEAVY LAUNCH VIDEO:RE-LIVE THE INAUGURAL DELTA 4 LAUNCH FROM 2002 VIDEO:ON-PAD FLIGHT READINESS ENGINE FIRING TEST VIDEO:TAKE TOUR OF LAUNCH PAD 37B Soviet SpaceFor the first time ever available in the West. Rocket & Space Corporation Energia: a complete pictorial history of the Soviet/Russian Space Program from 1946 to the present day all in full color. Available from our store.Choose your store: - - - Viking patchThis embroidered mission patch celebrates NASA’s Viking Project which reached the Red Planet in 1976.Choose your store: - - - Apollo 7 DVDFor 11 days the crew of Apollo 7 fought colds while they put the Apollo spacecraft through a workout, establishing confidence in the machine what would lead directly to the bold decision to send Apollo 8 to the moon just 2 months later. Choose your store: - - - Gemini 12Gemini 12: The NASA Mission Reports covers the voyage of James Lovell and Buzz Aldrin that capped the Gemini program’s efforts to prove the technologies and techniques that would be needed for the Apollo Moon landings. Includes CD-ROM.Choose your store: - - - Ferryflight Shuttle PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!”The Final Mission” - NASA emblem developed for the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft crew and their support teams to deliver the orbiters to their final destinations at museums.Gemini 12Gemini 12: The NASA Mission Reports covers the voyage of James Lovell and Buzz Aldrin that capped the Gemini program’s efforts to prove the technologies and techniques that would be needed for the Apollo Moon landings. Includes CD-ROM.Choose your store: - - - Gemini 7Gemini 7: The NASA Mission Reports covers this 14-day mission by Borman and Lovell as they demonstrated some of the more essential facts of space flight. Includes CD-ROM.Choose your store: - - - Apollo patchesThe Apollo Patch Collection: Includes all 12 Apollo mission patches plus the Apollo Program Patch. Save over 20% off the Individual price.Choose your store: - - - Mars Rover mission patchA mission patch featuring NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover is available from our online.Choose your store: - - - Apollo 9 DVDOn the road to the moon, the mission of Apollo 9 stands as an important gateway in experience and procedures. This 2-DVD collection presents the crucial mission on the voyage to the moon. Choose your store: - - - | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.America’s largest rocket set for launch Wednesday SPACEFLIGHT NOWPosted: August 25, 2013 Igniting its three main engines in a staggered sequence for the first time, a United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket for U.S. national security is scheduled for liftoff from California on Wednesday morning.

STORY WRITTEN FOR & USED WITH PERMISSIONPosted: June 17, 2004The Saturn-bound Cassini spacecraft’s main engine fired for 38 seconds Wednesday, slowing the vehicle by about 8 mph and putting it on course for Saturn orbit insertion the night of June 30, project officials said today. This was the final planned course correction prior to the make-or-break 96.4-minute orbit insertion rocket firing that will cap a seven-year voyage to the ringed planet.”This should be our final approach maneuver,” deputy program manager Earl Maize said in a statement. “It’s on to Saturn.”Wednesday’s rocket firing, known as Trajectory Correction Maneuver 21, or TCM-21, was needed to ensure Cassini crosses the plane of Saturn’s rings in the right position.The $3.3 billion Cassini is targeted to cross the ring plane in a broad gap between the F and G rings, a region thought to be empty of orbital debris. To be on the safe side, the spacecraft will make the crossing, once during approach and again on the other side of the planet, with its 13-foot-wide high-gain dish antenna facing forward to act as a shield.On Saturday, Cassini’s flight computers will begin executing a 41-day sequence of commands known as tour sequence 2, which includes the all-important Saturn Orbit Insertion maneuver. On June 22, the computers will begin executing the SOI “critical sequence,” a complex set of instructions that include fault protection routines that will allow the spacecraft to sidestep problems that might otherwise cut off the orbit insertion burn.The critical sequence begins with an eight-day “quiet period” before critical SOI commanding begins on June 29. Around 9 p.m. EDT the next day - about 90 minutes before the SOI rocket firing - the spacecraft will stop transmitting telemetry and begin sending a radio carrier signal to Earth using one of its low-gain antennas. Twenty minutes later, Cassini will turn to its protective attitude for the first ring plane crossing at 10:11 p.m.The spacecraft then will turn to point its main engine in the direction of travel. The SOI rocket firing should begin at 10:36 p.m. and end around 12:12 a.m. on July 1.The latest telemetry from Cassini shows the spacecraft is in good health and on target for SOI. Engineers are still analyzing the results of TCM-21 and another minor pre-SOI course correction could be carried out if necessary. But as of this writing, Cassini appears solidly on course.MISSION PREVIEWAres 1-X PatchThe official embroidered patch for the Ares 1-X rocket test flight, is available for purchase.Apollo CollageThis beautiful one piece set features the Apollo program emblem surrounded by the individual mission logos.Expedition 21The official embroidered patch for the International Space Station Expedition 21 crew is now available from our stores.Hubble PatchThe official embroidered patch for mission STS-125, the space shuttle’s last planned service call to the Hubble Space Telescope, is available for purchase. | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Cassini mission hinges on Wednesday’s engine firing BY WILLIAM HARWOOD

STORY WRITTEN FOR & USED WITH PERMISSIONPosted: January 8, 2011 Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, 40, an Arizona Democrat married to veteran astronaut Mark Kelly, was shot in the head during a public meeting outside a Tucson supermarket Saturday. A dozen bystanders also were shot — and some reportedly killed, including a 9-year-old child — when a lone gunman allegedly opened fire. Space shuttle commander Mark Kelly and Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who were married in 2007. Credit: Giffords Flickr photostreamScheduled to command the shuttle Endeavour in April, Kelly immediately flew to Tucson from Houston, officials said. His twin brother Scott, in orbit commanding the International Space Station, was informed of the shooting by flight controllers at the Johnson Space Center.”She’s in critical condition,” said Peter Rhee, a surgeon at the University of Arizona trauma center where 10 gunshot victims were taken. “The neurosurgeons have finished operating on her and I can tell you … I’m very optimistic about recovery.”He said he was optimistic “because she was following commands. She was shot one time, in the head, through and through. I can’t tell you right now, obviously, for forensic purposes what direction (the bullet went). But she was shot through and through on one side of the head. It went through her brain.”Asked if he was optimistic about a full recovery, Rhee said “we cannot tell what kind of recovery, but I’m about as optimistic as it can get in this situation.”President Obama said in a statement the shooting was “an unspeakable tragedy.”"While we are continuing to receive information, we know that some have passed away, and that Representative Giffords is gravely wounded,” he said. “We do not yet have all the answers. What we do know is that such a senseless and terrible act of violence has no place in a free society. I ask all Americans to join me and Michelle in keeping Representative Giffords, the victims of this tragedy, and their families in our prayers.”The shooting occurred in front of a Safeway supermarket in Tucson where Giffords was hosting an event called “Congress on Your Corner” intended to let members of the 8th Congressional District to meet their congresswoman.According to The New York Times, a former emergency room doctor who witnessed the shooting said the gunman approached Giffords from behind, “held a gun about a foot from her head and began firing.”"He must have got off 20 rounds,” the witness told the Times. The gunman was tackled by bystanders and later was identified as Jared Laughner. Police said he used a pistol with an extended magazine.Some initial media reports said Giffords was killed, but other officials later said she was alive, in surgery and in critical condition. By 4 p.m., officials were saying she was expected to survive, which Rhee later confirmed.”I am horrified by the senseless attack on Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and members of her staff,” said Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio. “An attack on one who serves is an attack on all who serve. Acts and threats of violence against public officials have no place in our society. Our prayers are with Congresswoman Giffords, her staff, all who were injured, and their families. This is a sad day for our country.”Elected to the House in 2006 and only the third Arizona woman to serve in Congress, Giffords was considered a centrist Blue Dog Democrat and a supporter of the military and immigration control. She is a member of the House Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Science and Technology.Giffords was unusually accessible and held scores of public meetings, prompting the Arizona Republic to dub her “the Energizer rabbit with a brain.” The Washington Post quoted former Labor Secretary Robert Reich as saying “I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s the first or second female president of the United States. She’s of that caliber.”In her capacity as chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics, Giffords played a key role in recent debate over NASA’s future direction and was widely respected for her thorough knowledge of the issues. She married Kelly, veteran of three shuttle flights, in November 2007.An ardent supporter of the manned space program, Giffords questioned the Obama administration’s decision to scuttle the Constellation moon program, an initiative promoted by President Bush, and the Ares rockets NASA was designing to replace the space shuttle.The administration’s change of course was based in large part on a report by a presidential panel led by aerospace executive Normal Augustine that concluded the Constellation program was not sustainable given realistic budget expectations. The panel supported a shift to commercial launch providers in the near term and development of a new heavy lift rocket for deep space exploration in the long term.But the Augustine panel also said NASA would need significant additional funding to make any manned space option viable.Giffords was critical of the Augustine panel’s options, saying “I thought we were going to take a hard, cold, sobering look at the Constellation program and tell us exactly what we needed to do here in Congress, with our budget, in order to maximize the chances of success. But that’s not what I see.”"Instead of focusing on how to strengthen the exploration program in which we’ve invested so much time — four years, billions of dollars — we have a glancing attention to Constellation, even referring to it in the past tense in your summary report and instead spending the bulk of the time crafting alternative options that do little to illuminate the choices that I think are really confronting the Congress and the White House.”So where does that leave us? I think in place of a serious review of potential actions that could be taken to strengthen and improve the Constellation program, we’ve been given a set of alternatives that in some sense look almost like cartoons, lacking detailed costs, schedule, technical, safety, other programmatic specifics that can’t be subjected to the rigorous and comprehensive analysis and validation that NASA’s required to go over.”So I guess I’ll ask my colleagues on this committee, what are we going to do with this report? I know that we are going to see more details. But in the absence of mismanagement or technological show stoppers … none of which the Augustine panel has indicated has occurred in this program, can any of us in good conscience recommend canceling the exploration systems development programs that Congress has funded and supported over the past four years?”Giffords said she did not see “the logic of scrapping what the nation has spent years and billions of dollars to develop.”"And for the nation’s sake, I hope we can break this cycle of false starts that was mentioned by many of my colleagues before,” she said. “The future of America’s human spaceflight is really at risk. And I’m hoping before the panel is dismantled we can get some real, solid numbers … so we can make the decisions as to what to do with our future in manned spaceflight.”Giffords strongly disagreed with a compromise later put forward by the Senate, and ultimately approved by the administration, that called for an additional shuttle flight and immediate development of a new heavy lift rocket to replace the shuttle.Speaking on the House floor before a key vote Sept. 30, Giffords said the legislation “lacks serious budgetary discipline” and includes an “unfunded mandate to keep the shuttle program going through all of fiscal year 2011 even after the shuttle is retired, which NASA estimates will cost the agency more than half a billion dollars.”Giffords criticized the proposed heavy lift rocket as a launcher designed “not by our best engineers, but by our colleagues over on the Senate side. By NASA’s own internal analysis, they estimate this rocket will cost billions more than the Senate provides.”"In short, the Senate bill forces NASA to build a rocket that doesn’t meet its needs, with a budget that’s not adequate to do the job and on a schedule that NASA’s own analysis says is unrealistic,” Giffords said. “That is not my idea of an executable and sustainable human spaceflight program.”Final Shuttle Mission PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The crew emblem for the final space shuttle mission is now available in our store. Get this piece of history!STS-134 PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The final planned flight of space shuttle Endeavour is symbolized in the official embroidered crew patch for STS-134. Available in our store!Ares 1-X PatchThe official embroidered patch for the Ares 1-X rocket test flight, is available for purchase.Apollo CollageThis beautiful one piece set features the Apollo program emblem surrounded by the individual mission logos.Project OrionThe Orion crew exploration vehicle is NASA’s first new human spacecraft developed since the space shuttle a quarter-century earlier. The capsule is one of the key elements of returning astronauts to the Moon.Fallen Heroes Patch CollectionThe official patches from Apollo 1, the shuttle Challenger and Columbia crews are available in the store. | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.With a little help, South Korea set to make history SPACEFLIGHT NOWPosted: August 18, 2009 Partially made of critical technology bought from Russia, a South Korean space launcher is scheduled to rocket into history Wednesday on the country’s first jaunt into Earth orbit. File photo of the KSLV 1 rocket. Credit: KARIThe Korea Space Launch Vehicle 1, a two-stage rocket made from Russian and Korean components, is slated to lift off in a window stretching from 0740-0920 GMT (3:40-5:20 a.m. EDT) Wednesday from the new Naro Space Center about 300 miles south of Seoul.Korean news outlets reported officials will likely target launch for around 0800 GMT (4 a.m. EDT), or about 5 p.m. local time.Fueling of the KSLV’s first stage should begin about two hours before launch and an automated countdown sequence will commence 15 minutes before the appointed liftoff time, according to the Korea Aerospace Research Institute.The 108-foot-tall rocket will head south from its island launch pad, crossing over the Sea of Japan and accelerating to more than 17,000 miles per hour in less than eight minutes.See our for more details.If successful, the historic launch will place South Korea in an elite group of spacefaring countries with a domestic orbital launch capability.The former Soviet Union launched the world’s first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, in October 1957. The United States followed with the successful launch of Explorer 1 in January 1958.France, Japan, China, the United Kingdom, India and Israel later developed and successfully flew their own space launchers.Iran joined the club in February when it launched an experimental communications satellite with a Safir 2 rocket.Engineers rolled the KSLV 1 rocket from an assembly hangar to the launch pad on Monday. Ground controllers rehearsed countdown procedures and gave a “go” for launch on Tuesday.South Korea began designing the rocket in 2002 and originally hoped to launch the booster in 2005.After early development trouble, Russian rocket-maker Khrunichev signed on to the KSLV 1 project in 2004, spearheading the first stage and construction of the Naro launch site in Jeolladam-do province in the southwestern part of the country.The first stage is powered by an RD-191 main engined fueled by kerosene and liquid oxygen. Designed by Russian engine-builder Energomash, the propulsion system is based on the RD-171 and RD-180 engines that propel Zenit and Atlas rockets toward space.Officially named the Universal Rocket Module, the first stage was developed for Russia’s next-generation Angara rocket, a modular design engineers hope will haul small, medium-sized, and heavy satellites into orbit.But Angara’s development has been stymied by a series of delays, and the first stage of the new rocket will make its maiden flight from South Korea.About 160 Russian engineers are present at the Naro launch site to support the mission, according to reports from the Korea Times.Wednesday’s launch was postponed from July 30 and Aug. 11 to give Khrunichev officials more time to analyze results of a critical engine test in Russia late last month.The RD-191 engine will ramp up to 430,000 pounds of thrust at liftoff, burning for nearly four minutes to guide the rocket to an altitude of more than 120 miles.After coasting through space for almost three minutes, the KSLV’s Korean-bult solid-fueled second stage will ignite for a one-minute firing to accelerate the rocket to orbital velocity.The launcher will deploy the mission’s 219-pound payload nine minutes after liftoff, according to KARI.The Science and Technology Satellite 2, or STSAT 2, will measure radiation in Earth’s atmosphere and demonstrate several key technologies Korean scientists could use on future spacecraft.Officials may not know the outcome of the mission until STSAT 2 passes over a communications station about 13 hours after launch.STS-134 PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The final planned flight of space shuttle Endeavour is symbolized in the official embroidered crew patch for STS-134. Available in our store!Final Shuttle Mission PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The crew emblem for the final space shuttle mission is now available in our store. Get this piece of history!Apollo CollageThis beautiful one piece set features the Apollo program emblem surrounded by the individual mission logos.STS-133 PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The final planned flight of space shuttle Discovery is symbolized in the official embroidered crew patch for STS-133. Available in our store!Anniversary Shuttle PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!This embroidered patch commemorates the 30th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Program. The design features the space shuttle Columbia’s historic maiden flight of April 12, 1981.Mercury anniversaryFree shipping to U.S. addresses!Celebrate the 50th anniversary of Alan Shephard’s historic Mercury mission with this collectors’ item, the official commemorative embroidered patch. | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.With questions swirling, ULA hastens Delta 4 production SPACEFLIGHT NOWPosted: May 19, 2014 COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — United Launch Alliance chief executive Michael Gass said Monday the rocket builder is accelerating production of the Delta 4 launcher to ensure U.S. national security satellites can get to space in case imports of Russian rocket engines are halted. File photo of a Delta 4-Heavy rocket on the launch pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. Credit: Pat Corkery/ULAGass told reporters Monday the decision to ramp up Delta 4 rocket production was part of a contingency plan adopted by ULA under the U.S. Defense Department’s policy of assured access to space, which led to the development of the Atlas 5 and Delta 4 rocket families in the 1990s.”The first thing we’re doing is making sure we’re implementing that contingency plan, which includes the acceleration of Delta 4 production, so some of that work is underway,” Gass said.ULA was formed in 2006 by the merger of Lockheed Martin’s Atlas 5 rocket program with the Boeing-designed Delta 4, which uses U.S.-built engines, in a bid to cut overhead costs while maintaining two independent launch vehicle families.The future of ULA’s Atlas 5 rocket, which has a first stage powered by Russian-built RD-180 engines, was muddled twice in the last three weeks, first when a U.S. federal judge issued a temporary injunction ordering ULA and the U.S. Air Force to stop purchasing the engine from Russia.The preliminary order was issued April 30 after SpaceX filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims attempting to block the sole-source award of 28 rocket launches to ULA. In its filing with the court, in which the company claimed it could launch U.S. military satellites at a quarter of ULA’s costs, SpaceX alleged the purchases of the RD-180 engine might violate sanctions levied against Russian officials in the wake up the annexation of Crimea.The judge lifted the injunction May 8 after U.S. government officials submitted letters to the court saying they have no evidence the engine trade violates any sanctions.Then Russian deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin, who is charged with managing Russia’s space and defense sectors, announced May 13 that Russia would restrict future RD-180 engine exports to only missions which serve civilian purposes.Gass said Monday he was not aware of any order from the Russian government to NPO Energomash, the manufacturer of the RD-180 engine, regarding the engine’s export to the United States.”Mr. Rogozin’s comments were certainly a reaction to some comments that our country made about escalating the next round of sanctions,” Gass said.There are 16 RD-180 engines currently in the United States. One of the engines will fly on an Atlas 5 rocket launch from Cape Canaveral scheduled for Thursday. Five more engines were due for delivery to the United States the second half of this year, according to Gass, and ULA has already purchased RD-180 engines to cover its commitments to the Pentagon in the Air Force’s order of 36 rocket cores last year. File photo of an Atlas 5 launch in May 2013. Credit: Pat Corkery/ULAThe 36-core block buy is equivalent to 28 launches because four of the flights will use the Delta 4-Heavy, which is comprised of three first stage rocket cores to boost performance for heavier payloads. Of the 36 rocket cores ordered by the Air Force, Gass said 20 are for the Atlas 5 and 16 are for the Delta 4.If the Atlas 5 continued to launch at the same rate as recent years — assuming no more RD-180 engine imports — the supply would run out some time in 2016. The Atlas 5 is scheduled to launch U.S. military communications satellites, GPS navigation spacecraft, intelligence-gathering payloads for the National Reconnaissance Office, a NASA lander to Mars, and at least two commercial satellites over that period.”We’ve kept a safety stock of engines in place to help with a smooth transition to move all those payloads to Delta 4 if necessary,” Gass said.If Rogozin’s statements are backed up with actions limiting RD-180 engine exports to support only civil launches, Gass said ULA and its RD-180 contractor, RD AMROSS, would take delivery of the engines anyway and use them on launches for NASA, commercial satellites, and commercial crew spacecraft under development to fly on Atlas 5.”In that contingency plan, there will be certain missions that for sure will probably stay on Atlas because they’re best configured for Atlas,” Gass said. “Ones already dual-integrated on Delta 4 will be the easiest ones to switch. We’re working different contingency plans for that.”The Delta 4 rocket costs more than an Atlas 5 to put the same mass into orbit, requiring strap-on solid rocket boosters to loft a satellite that an Atlas 5 could launch with just its liquid-fueled first and second stages.Some larger U.S. military payloads, such as the Navy’s Mobile User Objective System communications satellites, would have to upgrade to a $350 million Delta 4-Heavy rocket if they were removed from the Atlas 5 launch manifest.Those satellites will likely stay on the Atlas 5, Gass said, using the engines already delivered to the United States.Hastening the pace of Delta 4 manufacturing could reduce its cost in the long run, perhaps bringing its price into parity with the Atlas 5, according to Gass.”The premise right now in the price sheet is that Delta 4, by similar capability, is more [expensive] than Atlas, but those were prices based on a certain build rate,” Gass said. “Now, we’re going to accelerate the build rate, and the Delta prices will come down accordingly. How much? We’ve got to go negotiate how much.” Photo of the most recent Delta 4 launch on May 16 with a GPS navigation satellite. Credit: ULAGass said ULA did not decide to advance production of the Delta 4 launcher at the request of the Defense Department.”United Launch Alliance is committed, first and foremost, to the nation,” Gass said. “We hold our commitments, so we’re just going to move out and do it. We’re not waiting for customers to ask us.”ULA has already launched discussions with Delta 4 suppliers to move up deliveries.”We have material on order with all our suppliers to support the block buy, so [we will] take what we already ordered and just accelerate the production of that, get it earlier and then supplant that with some additional long-lead material to make sure we can sustain a high production rate into the third and fourth years of the block buy contract,” Gass said.The Delta 4’s launch rate since the beginning of 2012 has been approximately one-half of the Atlas 5’s.If Defense Department payloads are forced to swap rockets to the Delta 4, Gass said ULA’s contract with the Air Force allows for flexibility to re-allocate launches between the company’s two vehicles.But Gass would not say whether ULA or the U.S. government would have to pay the difference if satellites assigned to Atlas 5 end up riding on more expensive Delta 4s.Gass said his interpretation of Rogozin’s announcement on the RD-180 engine was that the Russian deputy prime minister was discussing Russia’s actions in response to U.S. sanctions.In a transcript of Rogozin’s press conference posted to an official Russian government website, the deputy prime minister said Russia was taking steps to warn its partners in about potential reciprocal action against sanctions.”It was a comment that if the United States did something, this is something he may do,” Gass said of Rogozin’s statement.Rogozin and Oleg Ostapenko, head of the Russian Federal Space Agency, raised concerns that restrictions on exports of defense-related products to Russia would disrupt Russian rocket businesses that rely on the international satellite market. Almost all large telecommunications satellites contain components built in the United States and Europe.Industry officials forecast little disruption for companies planning launches on Russian rockets this year, at least in terms of export licensing. Russia’s Proton rocket is grounded after a May 15 launch failure, forcing customers booked to fly on it to pivot from worrying about political trouble to technical reliability.Most satellite export licenses for upcoming missions have already been issued, with no clear sign the U.S. State or Commerce departments plan to revoke them, despite public pronouncements claiming they could.RD-180 engines shipped to ULA up to now have been approved for dual-use missions, meaning they can be launched for military or civilian purposes, such as for NASA or a commercial customer.”He said some important words that he would hold back for military use, which is just clearly a response to our country’s comment about holding back exports for military use,” Gass said. “It was truly a quid pro quo comment.”Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: .John Glenn Mission PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The historic first orbital flight by an American is marked by this commemorative patch for John Glenn and Friendship 7.Final Shuttle Mission PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The crew emblem for the final space shuttle mission is available in our store. Get this piece of history!Celebrate the shuttle programFree shipping to U.S. addresses!This special commemorative patch marks the retirement of NASA’s Space Shuttle Program. Available in our store!Anniversary Shuttle PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!This embroidered patch commemorates the 30th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Program. The design features the space shuttle Columbia’s historic maiden flight of April 12, 1981.Mercury anniversaryFree shipping to U.S. addresses!Celebrate the 50th anniversary of Alan Shephard’s historic Mercury mission with this collectors’ item, the official commemorative embroidered patch.Fallen Heroes Patch CollectionThe official patches from Apollo 1, the shuttle Challenger and Columbia crews are available in the store. | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.World Cup stadiums seen from spaceSPACEFLIGHT NOWPosted: June 13, 2014 The 12 stadiums hosting World Cup matches across Brazil have been sighted by France’s high-resolution Pleiades Earth observing satellites.Airbus Defence & Space, owner of the satellites, released the imagery as workers put finishing touches on the facilities ahead of Thursday’s 2014 FIFA World Cup opening match.Photo credit: Airbus Defence & Space/Spot Image

STORY WRITTEN FOR & USED WITH PERMISSIONPosted: October 27, 2004PASADENA, Calif. - After years of anticipation, the Cassini spacecraft beamed back smog-piercing close-up images of Saturn’s moon Titan late Tuesday, revealing a strange, striated landscape that both thrilled - and mystified - planetary scientists. This image taken by Cassini’s visual and infrared mapping spectrometer clearly shows surface features on Titan. It is a composite of false-color images taken at three infrared wavelengths: 2 microns (blue); 2.7 microns (red); and 5 microns (green). A methane cloud can be seen at the south pole (top of image). This picture was obtained as Cassini flew by Titan at altitudes ranging from 100,000 to 140,000 kilometers (88,000 to 63,000 miles), less than two hours before the spacecraft’s closest approach. The inset picture shows the landing site of Cassini’s piggybacked Huygens probe. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona Download larger image version The initial images, discussed at a news conference today, show sharply defined bright and dark regions that may be blanketed by a thin layer of transparent or translucent material that presumably settled out of the atmosphere or was deposited by some other transport mechanism.Other than a 600-mile-wide formation near the south pole, few clouds are present and no large craters are apparent, indicating tectonic, volcanic or depositional processes are at work that have resurfaced the moon on a global scale.But so far, there is no evidence of lakes or pools of liquid ethane and similar materials that many scientists believe must be present given the moon’s ultra-low temperature, high atmospheric pressure and hydrocarbon chemistry.In short, Titan’s mysteries withstood Cassini’s initial scientific assault.”We’ve been saying for a long time now that Titan was the largest expanse of unexplored terrain in the solar system,” said imaging team leader Carolyn Porco, a leading expert on Saturn’s rings. “And what remains hidden under the atmosphere and under the haze, the conditions at its surface, its geological history and so on are, at least in my mind, the solar system’s last great mystery.”Even though Cassini’s cameras operated flawlessly and even though conditions were optimal for imaging, “I have to report that we are still mystified and we are not quite sure what we’re looking at,” Porco said. “There isn’t much we are absolutely, definitively confident about right now.”She might as well have paraphrased Winston Churchill’s 1939 comment about the former Soviet Union: “It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.”Cassini entered orbit around Saturn in June after a seven-year voyage from Earth. The $3 billion spacecraft made its first of 45 planned flybys of Titan late Tuesday, streaking past the cloudy moon at an altitude of just 745 miles. Using filters to peer through the hydrocarbon haze that blankets the satellite, Cassini snapped dozens of pictures that raised as many questions as they answered.”This image has been processed, it’s been sharpened, it’s been contrast enhanced and there it is,” Porco said, displaying one such photo. “We don’t know exactly what we’re looking at. There are sharp boundaries between the dark regions and the bright regions, there … are white things that stick out, they kind of look like islands sticking out of the dark material.”But frankly, there is no topography in our images,” she said. “We do not see shadows on the surface of Titan. And because we don’t see shadows, we can’t look at an image like this and immediately deduce topographic information, what’s up and what’s down. Everything here … could be perfectly flat. Maybe what we’re seeing is just bright material, dark material, all at the same level. But we don’t know.”Radar data from Cassini will help fill in many of those blanks and researchers plan to present their initial findings Thursday. Scientists said the first processed image was spectacular. This image shows Titan in ultraviolet and infrared wavelengths. It was taken by Cassini’s imaging science subsystem on Oct. 26 and is constructed from four images acquired through different color filters. Red and green colors represent infrared wavelengths and show areas where atmospheric methane absorbs light. These colors reveal a brighter (redder) northern hemisphere. Blue represents ultraviolet wavelengths and shows the high atmosphere and detached hazes. Titan has a gigantic atmosphere, extending hundreds of kilometers above the surface. The sharp variations in brightness on Titan’s surface (and clouds near the south pole) are apparent at infrared wavelengths. The image scale of this picture is 6.4 kilometers (4 miles) per pixel. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science InstituteDownload larger image version Along with carrying out a general reconnaissance of Titan, Cassini collected data on the density of the moon’s atmosphere that will help engineers determine whether future flybys can be safely conducted at even lower altitudes. More important, those data also will be used to refine the entry angle of the European Space Agency’s Huygens probe, scheduled to slam into Titan’s atmosphere in January for a parachute descent to the surface.At today’s briefing, Porco concentrated on the pictures. She said that despite the moon’s lack of extensive cloud cover, “we’ve deduced that Titan is a super rotator, it means the cloud speeds, the wind speeds in the middle and the upper troposphere, are going faster than you would get if you just accounted simply for the conservation of angular momentum as a cloud basically developed from a convective parcel of air. This is the same case as for Venus.”But the most intriguing features to her were linear streaks on the surface that indicate some sort of active process at work.”What we can confidently say about the structures we are seeing on the surface is there are linear trends, there are streaks or perhaps there are cracks in the bedrock ice of titan, we don’t know,” Porco said. “But there are linear features and we see this in lots of regions where we look in high resolution. And again, not quite exactly sure what it’s telling us, whether it’s a tectonic process we’re looking at or it’s (wind related).”What we can say from those images is the surface seems to be a young surface. We see very few circular features that one might interpret as craters. In fact, that doesn’t even mean they’re not there. If the surface is coated at this viewing geometry with no shadows, if the surface was coated completely with a uniform material, we wouldn’t see any craters anyway even if they were there.”It’s going to take combining all these data together, it’s going to take our stereo imaging, which will give us topography, it’s going to take a combination of the (infrared imaging spectrometer) and the radar in order to really pick out whether we’re seeing highs or lows and so on. There’s a lot of work left to do. Our reconnaissance of Titan, our exploration of Titan, is really just beginning.”Imaging spectrometer team leader Robert Brown said his instrument also showed “a lot of complex structure on Titan’s surface, a lot of strong margins between bright and dark regions.”"We’re not exactly sure what the composition of the bright and dark regions are but some of the preliminary indications we’ve gotten from VIMS (Visual Imaging Spectrometer) suggest that even though there are differences between bright and dark, which are roughly a factor of two, that the composition of those bright and dark regions are not all that different, which is not what we expected.”It’s a bit hard to understand because their albedos are so different,” he said. “But one way that can happen is you could coat the bright material and the dark material with a material which would mask the composition of the substrate, but you could see through it partially. So it may be some sort of a coating effect.”For now, no one knows.”I think we’re going to have to wait several flybys,” Porco said, “maybe even several years, before we get a really good indication of what’s going on.”Cassini posterJust in time for the Cassini spacecraft’s arrival at Saturn, this new poster celebrates the mission to explore the ringed planet and its moons. 2005 CalendarThe 2005 edition of the Universe of the Hubble Space Telescope calendar is available from our U.S. store and will soon be available worldwide. This 12×12-inch calendar features spectacular images from the orbiting observatory.Moon panoramaTaken by Apollo 14 commander Alan Shepard, this panoramic poster shows lunar module pilot Edgar Mitchell as a brilliant Sun glare reflects off the lunar module Antares.Mars Rover mission patchA mission patch featuring NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover is now available from the Astronomy Now Store.Apollo 11 special patchSpecial collectors’ patch marking the 35th anniversary of the historic Apollo 11 moon landing is now available.Choose your store: - | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Scientists elated with quality of data from Huygens BY WILLIAM HARWOOD

STORY WRITTEN FOR & USED WITH PERMISSIONPosted: January 14, 2005NASA’s Cassini Saturn orbiter has turned back toward Earth and startedtransmitting stored data from Europe’s Huygens probe, which was stillbroadcasting a faint carrier signal from the surface of the moon Titan morethan two hours after touching down and well after Cassini had turned away.The carrier signal, detected by an Earth-based radio telescope network,confirmed the spacecraft survived atmospheric entry and reached the surfaceof Titan around 7:45 a.m. EST (1245 GMT), within 11 minutes or so of the predicted impacttime.At Saturn’s distance of 751 million miles, the carrier was 50 quadrilliontimes weaker than the FM radio signal picked up by a car radio, according toan engineer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. The signalcontinued until well after Cassini dropped below Titan’s horizon two hoursafter touchdown, surprising scientists at the European Space Agency’s SpaceOperations Center in Germany.The Cassini orbiter spent the morning out of contact with Earth, aimingits high gain antenna at the Huygens landing site to collect the entryprobe’s priceless science data. The orbiter was programmed to turn backtoward Earth a few minutes before 10 a.m. EST and officials confirmed theCassini started transmitting stored data as expected. But the first actualscience data from Huygens’ suit of instruments was not expected to show upon the ground until around 11:15 a.m.”This is clearly an engineering success,” said ESA project scientistJean-Pierre Lebreton. “But at this moment, we cannot say more. … We havenot seen any real data yet.”Titan is the sixth world in the solar system, after the moon, Venus,Mars, Jupiter and an asteroid, that has been visited by a robotic emissaryfrom Earth. But Titan is by far the most distant such planetary outpost.”This whole thing of approaching Titan, descending down through itsatmosphere and landing on its surface to me is like out of Jules Verne,”said Carolyn Porco, the Cassini imaging team leader. “It’s like acombination of ‘Journey to the Moon’ and ‘20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,’ allwrapped up together, it’s that kind of adventure in my mind.”We’ve just extended our reach twice as far as we had before when we talkabout physically making contact. … This is a big moment and because ofthis, we can now look in the sky and when we see Saturn, we can say we’vebeen there and we’ve made our mark. In that sense, the solar system, withthis one event today, has become a very much smaller place. And that is verybig.”Video coverage for subscribers only:VIDEO:STATUS REPORT DURING DESCENT AUDIO:TODAY’S STATUS REPORT DURING DESCENT VIDEO:HUYGENS PRE-ARRIVAL NEWS BRIEFING AUDIO:HUYGENS PRE-ARRIVAL NEWS BRIEFING VIDEO:OVERVIEW OF HUYGENS PROBE’S SCIENCE OBJECTIVES VIDEO:JULY NEWS BRIEFING ON CASSINI’S PICTURES OF TITAN VIDEO:PICTURES SHOWING TITAN SURFACE FROM OCT. FLYBY VIDEO:WHAT’S KNOWN ABOUT TITAN BEFORE THE FIRST FLYBY VIDEO:NARRATED MOVIE OF CLOUDS MOVING NEAR SOUTH POLE VIDEO:OCT. BRIEFING ON RADAR IMAGES OF TITAN SURFACE Ares 1-X PatchThe official embroidered patch for the Ares 1-X rocket test flight, is available for purchase.Apollo CollageThis beautiful one piece set features the Apollo program emblem surrounded by the individual mission logos.Expedition 21The official embroidered patch for the International Space Station Expedition 21 crew is now available from our stores.Hubble PatchThe official embroidered patch for mission STS-125, the space shuttle’s last planned service call to the Hubble Space Telescope, is available for purchase. | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Huygens science data received; one channel out BY WILLIAM HARWOOD

Posted: October 21, 2011T-00:00LiftoffThe Delta 2 rocket’s main engine and twin vernier steering thrusters are started moments before launch. Six of the nine strap-on solid rocket motors are ignited at T-0 to begin the mission.T+01:04.0Ground SRB BurnoutThe six ground-start Alliant TechSystems-built solid rocket motors consume all their propellant and burn out.T+01:05.5Air-Lit SRM IgnitionThe three remaining solid rocket motors strapped to the Delta 2 rocket’s first stage are ignited.T+01:26.0Jettison SRBsThe spent solid rocket boosters are jettisoned to fall into the Pacific Ocean. The spent casings remained attached until the vehicle passed into preset drop zone, clear of offshore oil platforms.T+02:11.5Jettison Air-Lit SRMsHaving burned out, the three spent air-started solid rocket boosters are jettisoned toward the Pacific Ocean.T+04:23.4Main Engine CutoffAfter consuming its RP-1 fuel and liquid oxygen, the Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne RS-27A first stage main engine is shut down. The vernier engines cut off moments later.T+04:31.4Stage SeparationThe Delta rocket’s first stage is separated now, having completed its job. The spent stage will fall into the Pacific Ocean.T+04:36.9Second Stage IgnitionWith the stage jettisoned, the rocket’s second stage takes over. The Aerojet AJ118-K liquid-fueled engine ignites for the first of two firings needed to place the NPP spacecraft into the proper orbit.T+04:41.0Jettison Payload FairingThe 10-foot diameter payload fairing that protected the NPP cargo atop the Delta 2 during the atmospheric ascent is jettisoned is two halves.T+10:23.7Second Stage Cutoff 1The second stage engine shuts down to complete its first firing of the launch. The rocket and attached spacecraft are now in a long coast period before the second stage reignites. The orbit achieved should be 460 nautical miles at apogee, 100 miles at perigee and inclined 98.655 degrees.T+52:05.0Second Stage RestartDelta’s second stage engine reignites for a short firing to boost the elliptical orbit into a more circular one.T+52:26.7Second Stage Cutoff 2The second stage shuts down after a 22-second burn. The orbit achieved should be 445.7 nautical miles at apogee, 438.8 miles at perigee and inclined 98.705 degrees.T+58:45.0NPP SeparationThe NPOESS Preparatory Project spacecraft for NOAA and NASA is released from the Delta 2 rocket, completing the primary launch sequence.T+92:30.0Second Stage RestartDelta’s second stage engine reignites for 39 seconds to perform its planned evasive maneuver to leave the orbital plane of the NPP satellite, resulting in a new orbit of 437.6 nautical miles at apogee, 183.6 nautical miles at perigee and inclined 101.8 degrees.T+98:20.0CubeSat DeploysA half-dozen student-made CubeSats are ejected from carriers on the Delta second stage in three deployment events occurring in 100-second intervals. AubieSat 1, DICE, Explorer 1 (Prime) Unit 2, M-Cubed and RAX 2 are part of NASA’s Educational Launch of Nanosatellite, or ELaNa.T+114:58.6Second Stage RestartDelta’s second stage engine reignites for 32 seconds to deplete its remaining fuel supply, resulting in a new orbit of 399.0 nautical miles at apogee, 100.1 nautical miles at perigee and inclined 107.5 degrees.Data source: ULA.John Glenn Mission PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The historic first orbital flight by an American is marked by this commemorative patch for John Glenn and Friendship 7.Final Shuttle Mission PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The crew emblem for the final space shuttle mission is available in our store. Get this piece of history!Celebrate the shuttle programFree shipping to U.S. addresses!This special commemorative patch marks the retirement of NASA’s Space Shuttle Program. Available in our store!Anniversary Shuttle PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!This embroidered patch commemorates the 30th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Program. The design features the space shuttle Columbia’s historic maiden flight of April 12, 1981.Mercury anniversaryFree shipping to U.S. addresses!Celebrate the 50th anniversary of Alan Shephard’s historic Mercury mission with this collectors’ item, the official commemorative embroidered patch.Fallen Heroes Patch CollectionThe official patches from Apollo 1, the shuttle Challenger and Columbia crews are available in the store. | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Delta 4 rocket and Air Force payload joined for launch SPACEFLIGHT NOWPosted: January 4, 2012 Moving from the cleanroom to the Cape Canaveral launching pad, the next update to the U.S. military’s space-based communications network was hoisted aboard its booster rocket Wednesday.File image of a Delta payload leaving Astrotech. Credit: NASA TVThe Wideband Global SATCOM 4 spacecraft, better known as WGS 4, will ride a United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket into orbit Jan. 19 from the Florida spaceport’s pad 37B.Liftoff will be possible during a 93-minute window extending from 7:38 to 9:11 p.m. EST (0038-0211 GMT).Already tucked inside the rocket’s five-meter-diameter, 47-foot-tall nose cone, a process that was accomplished before the holidays while still at the spacecraft preparation facility in Titusville, WGS 4 was driven on a specialized transporter across the river, through Kennedy Space Center and over to Complex 37 in the frigid predawn darkness Wednesday.After entering the pad and climbing the ramp to the launch site around 3:30 a.m. EST, the motorized hauler was parked on the backside of the mobile service gantry to complete the 25-mile trip.There, the pad’s crane lowered down to take hold of the payload for carefully hoisting the 6.5-ton satellite into the tower and positioning it atop the rocket’s second stage for attachment.File image of Delta payload ready for hoisting into the pad tower. Credit: NASAThe milestone move kicks off the final two weeks of the pre-launch campaign, which will include integrated testing between the Delta 4 rocket and WGS 4 spacecraft, closeouts of the vehicle compartments for flight and a series of readiness reviews to verify all systems are “go” for blastoff.It will be first rocket launch from Cape Canaveral of the new year and begins the Delta 4 rocket’s 2012 that is dedicated to military service with as many as five flights scheduled from both Florida and Vandenberg Air Force Base in California to deploy WGS, GPS and classified National Reconnaissance Office spacecraft.WGS 4 starts an enhanced “block” of satellites with improved bandwidth for communications to the military’s remotely-controlled unmanned aerial drones, which are used for surveillance, intelligence-gathering and offensive operations.The Air Force says it plans to put this WGS 4 spacecraft into service over the Middle East and Southeast Asia for U.S. Central Command and U.S. Pacific Command.An artist’s concept of WGS antenna arrangement. Credit: BoeingWeighing about 13,000 pounds at launch, the craft’s communications package provides shaped, steerable spotbeams of bandwidth wherever requested across its field-of-view for Ka- and X-band frequencies, plus the onboard capability to convert signals from one band to the other. The data transmission rates range from 2.1 to 3.6 Gbps. Once fully unfurled in space, the craft’s solar-power wings will span 134 feet.Three WGS spacecraft are operating in geosynchronous orbit today, and The Boeing Co. has four more in production at its El Segundo factory in Los Angeles. The craft are built upon the company’s powerhouse 702-model design.For over four decades, the Defense Satellite Communications System was the foundation for flowing secure information to military forces around the globe. But that heritage system is being phased out as the aging craft retire and the new WGS satellites ascend to orbit to take advantage of new technology.The final DSCS craft was launched by a Delta 4 rocket in 2003. ()An artist’s concept of WGS spotbeams. Credit: BoeingEach WGS bird possesses 10 times the capacity of a DSCS satellite and offers 19 coverage areas with its steerable antennas versus 8 under the heritage craft.The X-band communications through DSCS and WGS allow data, photos and video to be relayed to troops on the battlefield. But WGS also brings Ka-band to the table for high-volume broadcasting to user terminals across the reception area.At the heart of each WGS is an internal box called a digital channelizer that enables a user with a Ka-band terminal to seamlessly connect to someone with an X-band terminal, or vice versa.But the new Block 2 satellites, beginning with WGS 4, come with a bypass feature for unmanned aerial drone communications to skip the crossbanding path and use two uplink and two downlink channels that offer three times the bandwidth as the normal channels, opening up a much wider pipeline for data to flow.File image of Delta 4 Medium+(5,4) on the pad for WGS 3. Credit: ULAThe Delta 4 carrying WGS 4 will be flying in the Medium+(5,4) configuration, which is the most powerful of the Medium-version rockets and below only the triple-core Heavy in the modular family’s lineup.The Medium+(5,4) has a five-meter-diameter upper stage loaded with more cryogenic propellants than the optional four-meter motor used for other launches, such as GPS missions. The rocket also has a full set of four solid-fuel boosters strapped to the first stage, double the number used for GPS and other lower-weight payloads.The first stage is powered by the RS-68 hydrogen-fed main engine and the upper stage has the RL10B-2 engine, the powerplants used on all 17 Delta 4 missions to date.With WGS 4 now aboard, the fully stacked rocket stands 217 feet, 7 inches tall and looks ready for blastoff in just 15 days. Additional coverage for subscribers:VIDEO:DELTA 4 ROCKET LAUNCHES WITH WGS 3 VIDEO:ATLAS 5 ROCKET LAUNCHES WITH WGS 2 VIDEO:LAUNCH PREPARATIONS VIDEO:WGS 1 LAUNCH SEEN FROM PRESS SITE VIDEO:PRE-LAUNCH NEWS CONFERENCE John Glenn Mission PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The historic first orbital flight by an American is marked by this commemorative patch for John Glenn and Friendship 7.Final Shuttle Mission PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The crew emblem for the final space shuttle mission is available in our store. Get this piece of history!Celebrate the shuttle programFree shipping to U.S. addresses!This special commemorative patch marks the retirement of NASA’s Space Shuttle Program. Available in our store!Anniversary Shuttle PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!This embroidered patch commemorates the 30th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Program. The design features the space shuttle Columbia’s historic maiden flight of April 12, 1981.Mercury anniversaryFree shipping to U.S. addresses!Celebrate the 50th anniversary of Alan Shephard’s historic Mercury mission with this collectors’ item, the official commemorative embroidered patch.Fallen Heroes Patch CollectionThe official patches from Apollo 1, the shuttle Challenger and Columbia crews are available in the store. | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Delta 4 rocket awaits launch on NROL-25 Take a tour around the remarkable Space Launch Complex 6, originally built for the Manned Orbiting Laboratory, redone for military space shuttle missions and now home to the United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket. The 21-story booster stands within the protective confines of its mobile gantry awaiting the countdown to the NROL-25 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office.See our for the latest news on the launch.Photo credit: /Spaceflight NowDelta 4 rocket blasts off with classified NRO satellite BY WILLIAM HARWOOD

The Arena Corinthians in S?o Paulo was built in 2014and seats 48,000 spectators. .Battered and grooved: Saturn’s moon Tethys CASSINI PHOTO RELEASEPosted: November 27, 2004Having now passed closer to Tethys than the Voyager 2 spacecraft, Cassini has returned the best-ever natural color view of this icy Saturnian moon. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science InstituteDownload larger image version As seen here, the battered surface of Tethys (1,060 kilometers, or 659 miles across) has a neutral hue. The image here is a mosaic of two footprints. Three images taken in the red, green and blue filters were taken to form a natural color composite. The result reveals a world nearly saturated with craters - many small craters lie on top of older, larger ones, suggesting an ancient surface. At the top and along the boundary between day and night, the moon’s terrain has a grooved appearance. This moon is known to have a density very close to that of water, indicating it is likely composed mainly of water ice. Its frozen mysteries await Cassini’s planned close flyby in September 2005. The view shows primarily the trailing hemisphere of Tethys, which is the side opposite the moon’s direction of motion in its orbit. The image has been rotated so that north on Tethys is up. The images comprising this color view were taken with the Cassini spacecraft narrow angle camera on Oct. 28, 2004, at a distance of about 256,000 kilometers (159,000 miles) from Tethys and at a Sun-Tethys-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 50 degrees. The image scale is 1.5 kilometers (0.9 miles) per pixel. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA’s Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras, were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo. Cassini posterJust in time for the Cassini spacecraft’s arrival at Saturn, this new poster celebrates the mission to explore the ringed planet and its moons. 2005 CalendarThe 2005 edition of the Universe of the Hubble Space Telescope calendar is available from our U.S. store and will soon be available worldwide. This 12×12-inch calendar features spectacular images from the orbiting observatory.Moon panoramaTaken by Apollo 14 commander Alan Shepard, this panoramic poster shows lunar module pilot Edgar Mitchell as a brilliant Sun glare reflects off the lunar module Antares.Mars Rover mission patchA mission patch featuring NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover is now available from the Astronomy Now Store.Columbia ReportThe official accident investigation report into the loss of the space shuttle Columbia and its crew of seven. Includes CD-ROM. Choose your store: | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Before and after look at Saturn’s moon Titan CASSINI PHOTO RELEASEPosted: December 16, 2004Cassini’s second close flyby of Titan completes a ‘before’ and ‘after’ look at the fuzzy moon and provides the first direct evidence of changing weather patterns in the skies over Titan. Cassini has found Titan’s upper atmosphere to consist of a surprising number of layers of haze, as shown in this ultraviolet image of Titan’s night side limb, colorized to look like true color. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science InstituteDownload larger image version In images obtained less than two months ago, the Titan skies were cloud free, except for a patch of clouds observed over the moon’s south pole. In images taken Monday, Dec. 13, during Cassini’s second close flyby of Titan, several extensive patches of clouds have formed.”We see for the first time discrete cloud features at mid-latitudes, which means we see direct evidence of weather, and we can get wind speeds and atmospheric circulation over a region we hadn’t been able to measure before,” said Dr. Kevin Baines, Cassini science-team member with the visual and infrared mapping spectrometer, from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.The latest data and other results from Cassini’s close observations of Saturn’s moons Titan and Dione were presented today at a news conference during the American Geophysical Union fall meeting in San Francisco. Cassini swept within 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) of Titan’s surface on Monday, and took a close look at the icy moon Dione just one day later. During the flyby, Cassini captured a stunning view of Titan’s night side with the atmosphere shimmering in its own glow. This allows scientists to study the detached haze layers, which extend some 400 kilometers (249 miles) above Titan.Images from Cassini’s cameras show regions on Titan that had not been seen clearly before, as well as fine details in Titan’s intermittent clouds. The surface features may be impact related, but without information on their height, it is too soon to know for sure. No definitive craters have been seen in these images, though several bright rings or circular features are seen in dark terrain. Cassini imaging scientists are intrigued by the complex braided structure of surface fractures on Dione. To the surprise of scientists, the wispy terrain features do not consist of thick ice deposits, but bright ice cliffs created by tectonic features. “This is one of the most surprising results so far. It just wasn’t what we expected,” said Dr. Carolyn Porco, Cassini imaging team leader, Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo. As it zoomed in on Saturn’s moon Dione for a close flyby, the Cassini spacecraft captured a set of images of the icy moon which have been combined into a mosaic here to provide a stunningly detailed global view. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science InstituteDownload larger image version Other Cassini results presented at the meeting included observations made by the ultraviolet imaging spectrograph instrument, which indicates that the nearby environment of the rings and moons in the Saturn system is filled with ice, and atoms derived from water. Cassini researchers are seeing large changes in the amount of oxygen atoms in the Saturn system. A possible explanation for the fluctuation in oxygen is that small, unseen icy moons have been colliding with Saturn’s E ring,” said Dr. Larry Esposito, principal investigator of the imaging spectrograph instrument, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colo. “These collisions may have produced small grains of ice, which yielded oxygen atoms.” Esposito presented these findings at the meeting, and a paper on the subject appears in the online version of the journal Science. According to Esposito, Saturn’s ring particles may have formed originally from pure ice. But they have since been subjected to continual bombardment by meteorites, which has contaminated the ice and caused the rings to darken. Over time, continuous meteorite bombardment has likely spread the dirty material resulting from the collisions over a wide area in the rings. “The evidence indicates that in the last 10 to 100 million years, fresh material probably was added to the ring system,” said Esposito. These renewal events are from fragments of small moons, each probably about 20 kilometers (12 miles) across.Images and more information about the Cassini mission are available at .The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini mission for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. JPL designed, developed and assembled the Cassini orbiter. The European Space Agency built and managed the development of the Huygens probe and is in charge of the probe operations. The Italian Space Agency provided the high-gain antenna, much of the radio system and elements of several of Cassini’s science instruments.Ares 1-X PatchThe official embroidered patch for the Ares 1-X rocket test flight, is available for purchase.Apollo CollageThis beautiful one piece set features the Apollo program emblem surrounded by the individual mission logos.Expedition 21The official embroidered patch for the International Space Station Expedition 21 crew is now available from our stores.Hubble PatchThe official embroidered patch for mission STS-125, the space shuttle’s last planned service call to the Hubble Space Telescope, is available for purchase. | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Breathtaking vista of Tethys CASSINI PHOTO RELEASEPosted: November 23, 2004This dazzling view looks beyond gigantic storms near Saturn’s south pole to the small but clear disc of Tethys (1,060 kilometers, or 659 miles, across). Clouds and ribbons of gas swirl about in the planet’s atmosphere in the foreground, while a tremendous chasm is visible on the icy moon. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science InstituteDownload larger image version The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft narrow angle camera on Oct. 18, 2004, at a distance of 3.9 million kilometers (2.4 million miles) from Saturn and at a Sun-Saturn-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 61 degrees. The view is in wavelengths of visible red light centered at 619 nanometers. The image scale is 23 kilometers (14 miles) per pixel. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA’s Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras, were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo. Cassini posterJust in time for the Cassini spacecraft’s arrival at Saturn, this new poster celebrates the mission to explore the ringed planet and its moons. 2005 CalendarThe 2005 edition of the Universe of the Hubble Space Telescope calendar is available from our U.S. store and will soon be available worldwide. This 12×12-inch calendar features spectacular images from the orbiting observatory.Moon panoramaTaken by Apollo 14 commander Alan Shepard, this panoramic poster shows lunar module pilot Edgar Mitchell as a brilliant Sun glare reflects off the lunar module Antares.Mars Rover mission patchA mission patch featuring NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover is now available from the Astronomy Now Store.Apollo patchesThe Apollo Patch Collection: Includes all 12 Apollo mission patches plus the Apollo Program Patch. Save over 20% off the Individual price.Choose your store: - - - | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Cassini and Huygens craft are well equipped for science BY WILLIAM HARWOOD

Posted: December 7, 2009T-00:00LiftoffThe Delta 2 rocket’s main engine and twin vernier steering thrusters are started moments before launch. All three strap-on solid rocket motors are ignited at T-0 to begin the mission.T+01:04.0SRB BurnoutThe six ground-start Alliant TechSystems-built solid rocket motors consume all their propellant and burn out.T+01:39.0Jettison SRBsThe solid rocket boosters are jettisoned to fall into the Pacific Ocean. The spent casings remained attached until the vehicle passed into preset drop zone, clear of offshore oil platforms.T+01:40.0Begin Dog-legAfter initially flying from Vandenberg along a 196-degree flight azimuth, the rocket begins steering itself to obtain the desired orbital inclination. This dog-leg maneuver continues for 40 seconds.T+04:24.2Main Engine CutoffAfter consuming its RP-1 fuel and liquid oxygen, the Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne RS-27A first stage main engine is shut down. The vernier engines cut off moments later.T+04:32.2Stage SeparationThe Delta rocket’s first stage is separated now, having completed its job. The spent stage will fall into the Pacific Ocean.T+04:37.7Second Stage IgnitionWith the stage jettisoned, the rocket’s second stage takes over. The Aerojet AJ118-K liquid-fueled engine ignites for the first of two firings needed to place the WISE spacecraft into the proper orbit.T+04:56.0Jettison Payload FairingThe 10-foot diameter payload fairing that protected the WISE cargo atop the Delta 2 during the atmospheric ascent is jettisoned is two halves.T+10:22.5Second Stage Cutoff 1The second stage engine shuts down to complete its first firing of the launch. The rocket and attached spacecraft are now in a long coast period before the second stage reignites. The orbit achieved should be 299 nautical miles at apogee, 100 miles at perigee and inclined 97.5 degrees.T+51:40.0Second Stage RestartDelta’s second stage engine reignites for a short firing to boost the elliptical orbit into a circular one.T+51:48.5Second Stage Cutoff 2The second stage shuts down after an 8.5-second burn. The orbit achieved should be 289.6 nautical miles at apogee, 282.1 miles at perigee and inclined 97.504 degrees.T+55:20.0Payload SeparationNASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer satellite is released from the Delta 2 rocket, completing the launch.Data source: ULA.STS-134 PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The final planned flight of space shuttle Endeavour is symbolized in the official embroidered crew patch for STS-134. Available in our store!Final Shuttle Mission PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The crew emblem for the final space shuttle mission is now available in our store. Get this piece of history!Apollo CollageThis beautiful one piece set features the Apollo program emblem surrounded by the individual mission logos.STS-133 PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The final planned flight of space shuttle Discovery is symbolized in the official embroidered crew patch for STS-133. Available in our store!Anniversary Shuttle PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!This embroidered patch commemorates the 30th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Program. The design features the space shuttle Columbia’s historic maiden flight of April 12, 1981.Mercury anniversaryFree shipping to U.S. addresses!Celebrate the 50th anniversary of Alan Shephard’s historic Mercury mission with this collectors’ item, the official commemorative embroidered patch. | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Eavesdropping craft critical for monitoring terrorists BY CRAIG COVAULTSPACEFLIGHT NOWPosted: January 17, 2009 The Delta 4-Heavy rocket launches at 9:47 p.m. EST on January 17.Credit: Chris Miller/Spaceflight NowThe NRO payload on the Delta 4-Heavy is a 5-to-6 ton eavesdroppingspacecraft with a high tech deployable antenna as wide as 350 feet.The spacecraft is to enhance the capability for the U.S. tolisten in on communications in hostile governments like Iran andterrorist organizations like Al Qaeda.The NROL-26 mission has worried NRO officials and otherintelligence professionals because of concerns about flying thecritical satellite on the new Delta 4-Heavy.If the mission was to fail, it would spark another crisis in theU. S. intelligence community, already burdened with growing tasksfrom an increasingly dangerous world.The satellite is likely an “Advanced Mentor” design, accordingto GlobalSecurity.Org, a military think tank. Earlier versions weredesignated Orion.Due to satellite development delays and a 1998 Titan launchfailure involving an earlier “Mercury” eavesdropper design, the U.S.has fallen as much as one or two spacecraft behind its original 10-yearschedule to launch such giant eavesdroppers. These spacecraft providethe kind of information the White House, State Dept. and Pentagonneed to make military and national foreign policy decisions.It is also likely a “broad spectrum” satellite that can update keyfrequency information on hostile radars and other detection systemsthat could threaten U.S. forces.The three earlier Mentor spacecraft introduced a very large’wrap-rib’ deployable antenna design spanning up to 350 feet, saysGlobalSecurity.Org. The Delta 4-Heavy rocket launches at 9:47 p.m. EST on January 17.Credit: Chris Miller/Spaceflight NowThe National Security Agency will be the prime distributor of thespacecraft’s data, sending information from the satellite to theother 15 agencies and organizations that now make up theintelligence community.It has been five years since a large geosynchronous orbiteavesdropping satellite has been launched from Cape Canaveral. Thatearlier satellite, believed to have been a less capable version ofthe Mentor, was lofted on board a Titan-Centaur booster inSeptember 2003.Over the last two-and-a-half years, however, two different eavesdroppingsatellites have been launched on smaller Delta 4-Medium and Atlas 5rockets from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. These spacecraft, withsmaller antennas, are in highly elliptical orbits of roughly 700 x 23,500miles.Instead of remaining parked over one location above the equator,these Vandenberg-launched satellites travel up and down over thenorthern hemisphere. They can listen into radio communications fromdifferent locations or radio waves monitored from different angles,compared with geosynchronous orbit satellites.The data from these different eavesdroppers is then combined andassessed with other sources of information including that obtained byaircraft such as advanced versions of the U-2.Additional coverage for subscribers:VIDEO:FULL LAUNCH EXPERIENCE VIDEO:LAUNCH PAD CAMERA NO. 1 VIDEO:LAUNCH PAD CAMERA NO. 2 VIDEO:THE DELTA 4-HEAVY ROCKET LIFTS OFF VIDEO:LAUNCH AS SEEN FROM PRESS VIEWING SITE VIDEO:TIME-LAPSE MOVIE OF THE GANTRY RETRACTING VIDEO:LAUNCH PAD’S MOBILE GANTRY ROLLED BACK MORE:STS-134 PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The final planned flight of space shuttle Endeavour is symbolized in the official embroidered crew patch for STS-134. Available in our store!Final Shuttle Mission PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The crew emblem for the final space shuttle mission is now available in our store. Get this piece of history!Apollo CollageThis beautiful one piece set features the Apollo program emblem surrounded by the individual mission logos.STS-133 PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The final planned flight of space shuttle Discovery is symbolized in the official embroidered crew patch for STS-133. Available in our store!Anniversary Shuttle PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!This embroidered patch commemorates the 30th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Program. The design features the space shuttle Columbia’s historic maiden flight of April 12, 1981.Mercury anniversaryFree shipping to U.S. addresses!Celebrate the 50th anniversary of Alan Shephard’s historic Mercury mission with this collectors’ item, the official commemorative embroidered patch. | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Essential eavesdropping satellite launching Friday SPACEFLIGHT NOWPosted: November 17, 2010;Updated @ 7:52 p.m. with 24-hour launch delay to Friday night One cannot overstate the importance of Friday night’s Delta 4-Heavy launch from Cape Canaveral to national security, a mission by the massive rocket that will deploy “the largest satellite in the world” to hear the whispers of evil. File image of a Delta 4-Heavy rocket. Credit: Pat Corkery/United Launch AllianceCountdown clocks are targeting a liftoff time of 6:06 p.m. EST (2306 GMT) from the Florida spaceport’s Complex 37. The evening’s available launch opportunity likely extends upwards of four hours.The original launch date of Thursday was delayed by 24 hours to fix an issue with ground pyrotechnics that release the big booster at liftoff. See our for live coverage.United Launch Alliance’s Delta 4-Heavy is America’s biggest unmanned rocket currently in service, capable of lofting the largest and heftiest cargos. The mammoth vehicle is created by taking three Common Booster Cores — the liquid hydrogen-fueled motor that forms a Delta 4-Medium’s first stage — and strapping them together to form a triple-barrel rocket, and then adding an upper stage.The nighttime blastoff should be visually spectacular, lighting up the Space Coast with three distinct pillars of fire from the main engines trailing more than 200 feet long. Ideal viewing spots include off SR401 at Port Canaveral, along the 528 causeway or on the riverbanks in Titusville.Thundering eastward across the open Atlantic, the rocket will soar out of sight within a few minutes as it embarks on a multi-hour mission to serve the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office, the agency responsible for the country’s fleet of intelligence-gathering satellites.The NRO’s diverse spacecraft, including telescope-like observers and communications collectors, uncover looming dangers to the nation and provide surveillance over the world’s hot spots.”Always vigilant, the NRO’s eyes and ears give America’s policy markers, intelligence analysts, warfighters and homeland security specialists the critical information they need to keep America safe, secure and free,” the agency says.The clandestine payload going up this time, known only by its launch identification number of NROL-32, is widely believed to be an essential eavesdropping spacecraft that requires the powerful lift provided by the Delta 4-Heavy to reach its listening post.In an address to the Air Force Association conference in September, NRO Director Bruce Carlson, a retired Air Force general, said this rocket launch would carry “the largest satellite in the world on it.”The NRO has flown various types of communication-interceptors since the dawn of the space age, and analysts say it is virtually certain this Delta 4-Heavy is hauling another.”I believe the payload is the fifth in the series of what we call Mentor spacecraft, a.k.a. Advanced Orion, which gather signals intelligence from inclined geosynchronous orbits. They are among the largest satellites ever deployed,” said Ted Molczan, a respected sky-watcher who keeps tabs on orbiting spacecraft.Destined for geosynchronous orbit 22,300 miles above the planet, this new spacecraft supposedly will unfurl an extremely lightweight but gigantically huge umbrella-like antenna to overhear enemy communications and aid U.S. intelligence.”The satellite likely consists of sensitive radio receivers and an antenna generally believed to span up to 100 meters (328 feet) to gather electronic intelligence for the National Security Agency,” Molczan said.Observers think the mesh antenna’s diameter is the size of a football field, comparable to the International Space Station’s remarkable width. That explains why satellite-tracking hobbyists say these Mentor craft are “by far the brightest” in the high-flying geosynchronous orbital perch to see from the ground, outshining conventional television relay birds, weather sentinels and the like.Although NRO satellites are secretive by nature, the spacecraft are visible by just looking up. Molczan is member of a hobbyist group that routinely finds and watches the craft while monitoring the skies with precision.But despite the identity of this particular satellite being obvious, exactly where in the geosynchronous belt it will be positioned and what part of the globe it will cover are details that remain hush-hush.”The upcoming launch may replace one of the older spacecraft in the series, or augment the fleet by occupying a new location in geosynchronous orbit,” Molczan said. File image of a Delta 4-Heavy rocket launch. Credit: Pat Corkery/United Launch AlliancePrevious Mentor satellites were launched by Titan 4 rockets from Cape Canaveral in 1995, 1998 and 2003, plus the most recent Delta 4-Heavy in early 2009 carried one, according to the satellite-tracking hobbyists.The craft lineage can be traced to the two Magnum satellites trucked to orbit aboard the space shuttle Discovery during the STS-51C mission in 1985 and STS-33 in 1989, historians have indicated.An even earlier generation launched in the 1970s using Atlas rockets from the Cape, according to the authoritative website.Friday’s rocket launch continues a surge of NRO spy satellite deployments after a lengthy 20-month lull. An Atlas 5 rocket began this ongoing campaign by dispatching a new-generation radar imaging satellite in September from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.The upcoming schedule calls for several more significant launches in the next few months:A Delta 4-Heavy rocket for NROL-49 from Vandenberg on January 11A Delta 4 rocket for NROL-27 from Cape Canaveral on March 4An Atlas 5 for NROL-34 from Vandenberg on March 31Carlson said “this is the most aggressive launch campaign that the National Reconnaissance Office has had in 20 years, almost a quarter of a century.”"The other thing I can tell you is these are very important, because they all go to update a constellation which is aging rapidly. We bought most of our satellites for three, five, or eight years, and we’re keeping them on orbit for ten, twelve, and up to twenty years,” Carlson said.”Now, when I buy something people complain about how expensive it is, but nobody ever complains when it’s time to die and it keeps right on ticking. Some of these guys are like the Energizer bunny and they have really done marvelous work.”We’re doing things that were designed to essentially operate during the era of the Soviet Union that are today doing tactical intelligence collection that leads us to actionable intelligence on bad guys every day. Every day. And we’re doing it with equipment that’s 15, 18, and 20 years old.”STS-134 PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The final planned flight of space shuttle Endeavour is symbolized in the official embroidered crew patch for STS-134. Available in our store!Final Shuttle Mission PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The crew emblem for the final space shuttle mission is now available in our store. Get this piece of history!Apollo CollageThis beautiful one piece set features the Apollo program emblem surrounded by the individual mission logos.STS-133 PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The final planned flight of space shuttle Discovery is symbolized in the official embroidered crew patch for STS-133. Available in our store!Anniversary Shuttle PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!This embroidered patch commemorates the 30th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Program. The design features the space shuttle Columbia’s historic maiden flight of April 12, 1981.Mercury anniversaryFree shipping to U.S. addresses!Celebrate the 50th anniversary of Alan Shephard’s historic Mercury mission with this collectors’ item, the official commemorative embroidered patch. | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Experts using computer simulations in Delta 4 probe SPACEFLIGHT NOWPosted: January 30, 2005CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - While complex computer simulations are being run to understand what interrupted its main engines from finishing their firings, the entire six-hour maiden flight of the Boeing Delta 4-Heavy rocket was examined in deep detail last week as part of a planned post-mission review. Free hydrogen ignites as the three RS-68 main engines roar to life during the final seconds of the Delta 4-Heavy rocket’s launch countdown. Credit: Gene Blevins/LA Daily News”The flight data review was extremely thorough, scrutinizing not only the extensive, standard flight telemetry data, but also the additional data from more than 500 channels of special instrumentation, specifically installed for this first Heavy mission,” said Col. John Insprucker, Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle Program Director at the Air Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center.Officials sifted through mounds of data collected from liftoff through deployment of the mock satellite cargo during the Air Force-ordered test launch. The Defense Department awarded Boeing a $141 million contract to fly the first Delta 4-Heavy on a demonstration launch instead of carrying a real payload. “It’s important to remember that the primary payload for this mission was really the instrumentation we carried onboard,” Col. Insprucker said. “Our investment in telemetry and additional special instrumentation is helping us quickly zero in on the cause of the anomaly, and I’m confident the data will also enable us to fine-tune all aspects of our future Delta 4 heavy-lift missions.”The December 21 flight was deemed a success despite a problem impacting the firing time of all three Common Booster Cores, which were strapped together to form the rocket’s first stage. The Rocketdyne-made RS-68 main engine on each booster shut down several seconds early, causing a speed deficit that the rocket’s upper stage could not overcome. The dummy satellite was delivered into an orbit much lower than planned and two nanosats were lost.The ongoing investigation to determine why the engines stopped firing 8 seconds prematurely on the port and starboard boosters and 9 seconds early on the center stage has narrowed the list of possible culprits. The leading theory continues to be a condition called cavitation where liquid oxygen flowing through the feedline from the tank to the engine turns to gaseous oxygen. This phenomenon is believed to have occurred around internal sensors that are designed to tell the engines when to shut down. The sensors reacted to the bubbles, thought the boosters had run out of liquid oxygen and commanded the RS-68s to cut off. But each motor had plenty of liquid oxygen remaining in their tanks to finish the normal firing time.Using the standard investigative tool known as a Fault Tree analysis, the team has cleared 42 of 49 potential causes, including the sensors themselves and the main engines. All 7 remaining branches in the Fault Tree involve various types of disturbances in the flow of liquid oxygen, the Air Force said. The Delta 4-Heavy rocket launches on its test flight. Credit: Gene Blevins/LA Daily News”The team is meeting daily across multiple locations to complete the investigation,” said Dan Collins, vice president of Boeing Expendable Launch Systems. “Determining root cause from the remaining 7 open branches is the top priority.”Computer models that simulate the liquid oxygen flow within the feedline on each booster are examining the cavitation scenario. The liquid oxygen tank is located at the top-end of each stage, above the liquid hydrogen fuel tank, with a feedline running down the length of the booster to the main engine. The Air Force says the engine cutoff sensors are positioned about five feet downstream of the liquid oxygen tank.”Initial simulation runs have already given new insight into the flow dynamics in the feedline (velocity and pressure patterns). The team will progressively add details to the computer models to build up an accurate representation of the internal features of the tank and feedline, and to simulate the flight conditions at the time of the premature engine cutoff,” the Space and Missile Systems Center said in a statement Friday.”The simulation team will use these models, along with the flight sensor data, to identify where cavitation is most likely to have developed in the liquid oxygen flow for the Heavy demonstration flight conditions. The onset of cavitation is thought to be caused by a unique combination of vehicle acceleration,?liquid oxygen?level in the propellant tank,?tank pressures,?feedline internal features and flow rates in the feedline when the RS-68 engine is at full power.”The team also plans to simulate liquid oxygen flow under flight conditions from previous Delta 4 missions, where the anomaly was not observed, to help verify the accuracy of the complex computer models.”Three previous Delta 4 missions have flown — all successfully and on target — in the so-called Medium configuration that features just one Common Booster Core. The Heavy design uses three booster cores in order to launch much heftier payloads.Additional coverage for subscribers:VIDEO:FROM LIFTOFF TO BOOSTER SEPARATION VIDEO:THE DELTA 4-HEAVY LAUNCH (SHORT VERSION) VIDEO:ONBOARD CAMERA RECORDS LAUNCH VIDEO:ONBOARD CAMERA SEES BOOSTER SEPARATION VIDEO:ONBOARD CAMERA CAPTURES FAIRING JETTISON AUDIO:LISTEN TO THE 68-MINUTE PRE-LAUNCH NEWS CONFERENCE VIDEO:ANIMATION PROVIDES PREVIEW OF A DELTA 4-HEAVY LAUNCH VIDEO:RE-LIVE THE INAUGURAL DELTA 4 LAUNCH FROM 2002 VIDEO:ON-PAD FLIGHT READINESS ENGINE FIRING TEST VIDEO:TAKE TOUR OF LAUNCH PAD 37B Apollo 11 special patchSpecial collectors’ patch marking the 35th anniversary of the historic Apollo 11 moon landing is now available.Choose your store: - - - Inside Apollo mission controlAn insider’s view of how Apollo flight controllers operated and just what they faced when events were crucial. Choose your store: The ultimate Apollo 11 DVD This exceptional chronicle of the historic Apollo 11 lunar landing mission features new digital transfers of film and television coverage unmatched by any other.Choose your store: - - - Next ISS crewOwn a little piece of history with this official patch for the International Space Station’s Expedition 11 crew. We’ll ship yours today!Choose your store: New StationCrew PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The Expedition 38 embroidered crew patch for the International Space Station is now available in our store!Apollo patchesThe Apollo Patch Collection: Includes all 12 Apollo mission patches plus the Apollo Program Patch. Save over 20% off the Individual price.Choose your store: - - - Apollo 11 special patchSpecial collectors’ patch marking the 35th anniversary of the historic Apollo 11 moon landing is now available.Choose your store: - - - Inside Apollo mission controlAn insider’s view of how Apollo flight controllers operated and just what they faced when events were crucial. Choose your store: The ultimate Apollo 11 DVD This exceptional chronicle of the historic Apollo 11 lunar landing mission features new digital transfers of film and television coverage unmatched by any other.Choose your store: - - - Next ISS crewOwn a little piece of history with this official patch for the International Space Station’s Expedition 11 crew. We’ll ship yours today!Choose your store: | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Final Delta launch of 2007 lofts new GPS satellite SPACEFLIGHT NOWPosted: December 20, 2007A productive year for the Delta rocket program that launched spacecraft to observe Earth, dig up frozen water on Mars and explore uncharted worlds in the asteroid belt was capped with a successful ascent of a modernized GPS navigation satellite on Thursday afternoon from Cape Canaveral. Credit: Chris Miller/Spaceflight NowSEE MORE LAUNCH IMAGES The year’s finale began at 3:04 p.m. EST as the Delta 2 booster darted away from pad 17A carrying the newest craft for the Global Positioning System.The three-stage launcher propelled the 4,500-pound satellite into a highly elliptical orbit reaching about 11,000 miles at the high point, 100 miles at the lowest and inclined 40 degrees to the equator. The Lockheed Martin-made satellite was released from the spent rocket 68 minutes after liftoff.”The Delta 2 and GPS team did great work throughout this launch campaign,” said Col. James Planeaux, Air Force mission director for the launch and commander of the Delta Group. “I’m thrilled to see those long hours and dedication to the mission rewarded with a pinpoint orbit insertion for GPS 2R-18.”A solid-propellant kick motor on the satellite itself will fire in a few days to circularize its orbit at 11,000 miles and increase the inclination to 55 degrees where the GPS constellation flies. The craft should be ready to enter service within a couple of weeks.”The successful deployment of this high-performance satellite represents another important milestone in the modernization of the GPS constellation and reflects our commitment to achieving mission success for our customer,” said Don DeGryse, Lockheed Martin’s vice president of Navigation Systems. “Our team is now focused on performing a rapid and efficient on-orbit checkout to quickly place the satellite’s advanced navigational capabilities into operational service.”Controllers will maneuver the $75 million craft into the Plane C, Slot 1 position of the constellation to take the place of GPS 2A-24. That satellite then moves into another role replacing the ailing GPS 2A-20 satellite, which was launched in May 1993 and has long outlived its seven-year design life.The orbiting network emits continuous navigation signals that allow users to find their position in latitude, longitude and altitude and determine time. Credit: Chris Miller/Spaceflight NowSEE MORE LAUNCH IMAGES The GPS 2R-18 spacecraft is the fifth in a series of eight with enhanced features designed to rejuvenate the GPS constellation.”Today’s launch moves us another step closer to modernizing the vital GPS constellation, which provides combat effects our warfighters depend on,” said Brig. Gen. Susan Helms, commander of the Cape’s 45th Space Wing.The modernized satellites transmit additional signals and feature improvements aimed at greater accuracy, tougher resistance to interference and better performance for users around the world.The new civilian signal removes navigation errors caused by the Earth’s ionosphere. The military advancements will provide an enhanced jam-resistant signal and enable more-precise targeting of GPS-guided weapons in hostile environments.”We have the most robust and capable Global Positioning System in the history of space, and we are focused on delivering world-class space-based positioning, navigation and timing capabilities for our military and civil communities. Thanks to the men and women of the 45thand 50th Space Wings, our industry partners and the Delta 2 and (GPS) 2R launch teams, the success of today’s launch was possible due to their dedication and hard work,” said Col. David Madden, commander of the Space and Missile Systems Center’s Global Positioning Systems Wing.Nine Delta rockets soared to space in 2007, all delivering their NASA, U.S. military and commercial cargos without fault. “This launch wraps up a high-tempo year of delivering space capability to our nation, including three Delta launches from Cape Canaveral in the last 64 days. It’s a great year-end exclamation point for the Launch and Range Systems Wing, the United Launch Alliance, and all of our mission teammates,” said Planeaux.The highlights from 2007:The Phoenix lander was dispatched for Mars to examine the frozen water in the northern plains that could be a habitable zone for life.NASA’s Dawn space probe powered by exotic ion engines was launched to orbit the worlds of Vesta and Ceres in the heart of the asteroid belt.Five tiny NASA satellites for the THEMIS mission were put in orbit to uncover the physics behind Earth’s auroras.Two launches of modernized replacement satellites were carried out to reinvigorate the Global Positioning System.A pair of Italian-made COSMO-SkyMed satellites that use radar to image the Earth for commercial and military uses were lofted in separate launches.The Delta 2 rocket marked its 75th consecutive successful launch with deployment of the sharp-eyed WorldView 1 Earth-imaging spacecraft.And the mammoth Delta 4-Heavy rocket entered operational service with the launch of the Air Force’s final Defense Support Program missile warning satellite.Complete coverage all nine launches, plus the missions from the past several years can be found in our .Additional coverage for subscribers:VIDEO:THE DELTA 2 ROCKET BLASTS OFF WITH GPS 2R-18 VIDEO:MOBILE SERVICE TOWER IS ROLLED BACK FOR LAUNCH VIDEO:GPS SATELLITE ANIMATION STS-134 PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The final planned flight of space shuttle Endeavour is symbolized in the official embroidered crew patch for STS-134. Available in our store!Final Shuttle Mission PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The crew emblem for the final space shuttle mission is now available in our store. Get this piece of history!Apollo CollageThis beautiful one piece set features the Apollo program emblem surrounded by the individual mission logos.STS-133 PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The final planned flight of space shuttle Discovery is symbolized in the official embroidered crew patch for STS-133. Available in our store!Anniversary Shuttle PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!This embroidered patch commemorates the 30th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Program. The design features the space shuttle Columbia’s historic maiden flight of April 12, 1981.Mercury anniversaryFree shipping to U.S. addresses!Celebrate the 50th anniversary of Alan Shephard’s historic Mercury mission with this collectors’ item, the official commemorative embroidered patch. | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Final look at the West Coast space shuttleSPACEFLIGHT NOW

Posted: June 25, 2006The final piece of Boeing’s new generation Delta 4 rocket fleet makes its long-awaited debut this week when a booster blasts off from the U.S. West Coast for the first time, punctuating the company’s work to develop a line of launchers and build pads in Florida and California. The mission emblem is depicted here. Credit: BoeingConceived in the Air Force’s Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program to field new American rockets to carry government payloads for the next two decades, the Delta 4 has flown five times in its medium- and heavy-lift configurations from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Now, the maiden mission from California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base is poised for launch Tuesday evening.”We committed back in 1998 to bring really everything that the government needed — full family (of rockets) from the Medium through the Heavy and both coasts,” said Dan Collins, vice president of Boeing Expendable Launch Systems. “There is a lot of pride in getting to this point — finishing up and demonstrating the whole breadth of the Delta 4 family.”The Vandenberg launch site allows rockets to fly southward for delivery of spacecraft into orbit around Earth’s poles, allowing coverage over most of the planet’s surface. The earlier Delta 4 launches from the Cape have flown eastward to reach equatorial orbits.The payload for Tuesday’s mission is a classified spacecraft for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office, the secretive government agency responsible for operating the nation’s network of spy satellites. The Delta 4 will haul the craft into a highly inclined, highly elliptical orbit.This launch has been in the works for years. The rocket itself was erected atop the launch pad on October 30, 2003, but delays with the payload have kept the booster earthbound.”There have been a significant number of reviews and special tests because of the length this vehicle has been on the pad,” Boeing flight director Rich Murphy said in an interview Friday.The mission was within a day of blastoff in October only to be grounded due to concerns about fuel sloshing in the second stage. Analytical models differed about the potential for sloshing, which could have jeopardized the mission.Liftoff will happen sometime between 7 and 9 p.m. PDT (10 p.m. and midnight EDT; 0200-0400 GMT). The actual target launch time has not been revealed. Credit: Boeing”Everything is looking great,” Lt. Col. David Goldstein, 4th Space Launch Squadron commander and Air Force launch director, said in an interview Friday. “Of course, you always have certain ankle biter technical issues that pop up here and there especially with a first launch from a pad.”The weather outlook predicts an 80 percent chance of meeting the launch rules. But low clouds and fog could ruin the view of liftoff. See the full forecast .The California home of Delta 4 is commonly referred to as “Slick Six” — the infamous Space Launch Complex-6 that has a star-crossed legacy. It was constructed in the 1960s for the Air Force’s Manned Orbiting Laboratory space station project and then rebuilt in the 1980s for military space shuttle launches. However, both projects were cancelled before any liftoffs occurred, leaving the massive pad in mothball status.In the 1990s, Lockheed Martin’s tiny Athena booster flew a couple of launches from the pad. The first failed, the second mission’s payload malfunctioned soon after launch, the third failed, but the final achieved complete success.Boeing moved into the complex in early 2000, beginning renovations to transform the existing shuttle facilities to support the Delta 4, including the installation of a large erector arm to hoist the assembled rockets upright, modifications to the service tower, stripping the umbilical tower to add swing arms and building the Horizontal Integration Facility nearby. Delta leaders picked Slick Six because the pad was designed from the start to launch large rockets, enabling much of its infrastructure to be reused.”I would say the main driving reason was that we were going to do a modification rather than a build from scratch. That has a lot of advantages to it. I am very, very pleased with how the modifications, the construction phase and activation phase have gone at Vandenberg,” Collins said.”We specifically set up a program to take the lessons learned from our activation of SLC-37 on the East Coast, evaluate what had gone well on the East Coast and what we felt we could improve on. That program played a huge role in letting us have a very smooth activation here on the West Coast.” SLC 6 was overhauled from its shuttle days to support Delta 4. Credit: BoeingAlthough Slick Six does not have all of the hardware in place to launch a Delta 4-Heavy — the triple-body rocket that debuted from Florida in December 2004 — Boeing officials say the pad can be upgraded quickly to support.”We have designed Vandenberg to launch the Heavy. We have done all of the scarring and we’ve bought all of the hardware. We chose not to install the outboard tail service masts, which are the umbilical assemblies at the bottom of the rocket just because we wanted to keep them in a more protected situation. Without a current demand for the Heavy, we didn’t want to install them and have them subjected to the elements just day-to-day as well as the different launch campaigns,” Collins explained.”When a need for a Heavy on the West Coast comes, we’ve got a plan in place that will install those tail service masts and we’ll be fully ready within a matter of months to launch the Heavy.”The Air Force has ordered a couple of Delta 4 launches from Slick Six. The Delta 4-Medium rocket that will fly the second mission this November — to loft a polar-orbiting military weather satellite — is in storage at the base.Watch our page for live updates during Tuesday’s countdown and launch.Telescopes.comLargest selection and the best prices anywhere in the world. Free shipping on select items. is the largest dealer of both Meade and Celestron Telescopes. Visit or call toll free 1-800-303-5873.John Glenn Mission PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The historic first orbital flight by an American is marked by this commemorative patch for John Glenn and Friendship 7.Final Shuttle Mission PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The crew emblem for the final space shuttle mission is available in our store. Get this piece of history!Celebrate the shuttle programFree shipping to U.S. addresses!This special commemorative patch marks the retirement of NASA’s Space Shuttle Program. Available in our store!Anniversary Shuttle PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!This embroidered patch commemorates the 30th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Program. The design features the space shuttle Columbia’s historic maiden flight of April 12, 1981.Mercury anniversaryFree shipping to U.S. addresses!Celebrate the 50th anniversary of Alan Shephard’s historic Mercury mission with this collectors’ item, the official commemorative embroidered patch.Fallen Heroes Patch CollectionThe official patches from Apollo 1, the shuttle Challenger and Columbia crews are available in the store.Ares 1-X PatchThe official embroidered patch for the Ares 1-X rocket test flight, is available for purchase.Apollo CollageThis beautiful one piece set features the Apollo program emblem surrounded by the individual mission logos.Expedition 21The official embroidered patch for the International Space Station Expedition 21 crew is now available from our stores.Hubble PatchThe official embroidered patch for mission STS-125, the space shuttle’s last planned service call to the Hubble Space Telescope, is available for purchase. | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Delta 4 rocket prepared to launch WGS 3SPACEFLIGHT NOW

STORY WRITTEN FOR & USED WITH PERMISSIONPosted: January 15, 2005A missing computer command - apparently the result of human error - caused the loss of half the pictures taken by Europe’s Huygens probe as it descended to the surface of Saturn’s moon Titan. But project officials said today the 350 pictures that made it back, along with high-quality data fromthe spacecraft’s other instruments and unexpected measurements by Earth-based radio telescopes, should fulfill all of the mission’s primary objectives. This color image was returned January 14 by ESA’s Huygens probe during its successful descent to land on Titan. Initially thought to be rocks or ice blocks in front of the probe, they are more pebble-sized. The two rock-like objects just below the middle of the image are about 15 centimetres (left) and 4 centimetres (centre) across respectively, at a distance of about 85 centimetres from Huygens. The surface is darker than originally expected, consisting of a mixture of water and hydrocarbon ice. There is also evidence of erosion at the base of these objects, indicating possible fluvial activity. Credits: ESA/NASA/University of Arizona”I’m very, very happy to report that we have received a very good dataset that will surely allow us to achieve all of our objectives and probablymore than what we had initially set out,” said Jean-Pierre Lebreton, theEuropean Space Agency’s Huygens project scientist. “We can now start to seea clearer picture of Titan emerging.”Researchers today unveiled a dramatic 360-degree panorama shot by Huygensdescent imager showing the probe’s path across the moon as it descendedtoward touchdown. The mosaic put in context three photos released Fridayshowing channels, an apparent shoreline, an unusual heart-shaped feature andwhat appeared to be ice blocks at the landing site itself.You can see our montage of Huygens pictures showing the landing area .The mosaic shows the channels and shoreline behind Cassini with thelanding site, near the heart-shaped feature, dead ahead. The channels inlight-shaded, elevated terrain flow down toward what look like a shorelinealong large expanses of dark, smooth-looking areas. It’s not yet knownwhether ethane, methane or other hydrocarbons exist in liquid form in theseareas, but additional data analysis may resolve the matter in the weeks andmonths ahead.”It’s almost impossible to resist the speculation that this flat, darkmaterial is some kind of drainage channel, that we’re seeing some kind of ashoreline,” said University of Arizona researcher Martin Tomasko, principalinvestigator with the descent imager team. “We don’t know if this still hasliquid in it or whether the liquid has drained away or drained into thesurface. You have the feeling maybe this was wet not so long ago.”Tomasko also unveiled a color version of a photo released Friday thatshowed what appeared to be ice boulders strewn across the surface near theHuygens landing site. The boulders, Tomasko said today, were actually closerin size to pebbles, based on additional data analysis. But he saiddepressions in the surface material around the small rock-like chunks of iceindicated possible erosion patterns due to the flow of some as-yet-unseenliquid.Huygens entered Titan’s thick nitrogen atmosphere around 5:13 a.m.Friday. John Zarnecki, principal investigator of the surface sciencepackage, said it took the spacecraft two hours 27 minutes and 50 seconds tocomplete its parachute descent to the surface. It hit that surface at avelocity of 10.1 mph and experienced a very brief impact deceleration of 15Gs. The jolt knocked one sensor off line, but it came back to life on itsown a few minutes later.A “penetrometer” on the bottom of the probe extended six inches into thefrigid soil. That data, coupled with the deceleration experienced by Huygensas it hit the ground, provided new insights into the nature of the surfacematerial at the landing site.”What we’re seeing is, we think, a material which might have a thin crustfollowed by a region of relatively uniform consistency,” said Zarnecki. “Interms of this (impact) force, the closest analog that I can give you - andremember, this is not suggesting these are the materials we hit, but thatthe mechanical consistency is similar - then I would say wet sand or clayare materials which give a similar sort of trace.”PHOTO: PHOTO: PHOTO: PHOTO: PHOTO: Huygens sampled the atmosphere as it floated toward the surface in windsmeasured at about 16 mph between six and 12 miles altitude. A microphoneeven recorded the sound of the wind rushing past. On-board instrumentsdetected a thick methane haze, or cloud deck, 11 to 12 miles above theground where atmospheric pressure measured about 7.3 pounds per square inch.The outside temperature when the descent began was 70.5 Kelvin, or minus332.8 degrees Fahrenheit, while the temperature on the surface was slightlywarmer: 93.8 Kelvin, or minus 290.8 degrees Fahrenheit.Huygens was programmed to transmit telemetry and scientific data toNASA’s Cassini Saturn orbiter for relay to Earth using two redundant S-bandradio systems. Channel A was the sole path for an experiment to measure windspeeds by studying tiny frequency changes caused by Huygens’ motion. In oneother deliberate departure from full redundancy, pictures from Tomasko’sdescent imager were split up, with each channel carrying 350 pictures.As it turned out, Cassini never listened to channel A because of asoftware commanding error. The receiver on the orbiter was never commandedto turn on, according to officials with the European Space Agency.”We should remember we’re human and we should learn lessons, so I willinstitute an ESA inquiry on how the command came to be missing,” DavidSouthwood, director of science for the European Space Agency, told reporterstoday. “I’m not going to say any more about that, I’m not going to speculate(about blame).”In an obvious reference to NASA and earlier news reports, he did say”there have been some erroneous messages implicating one of the other spaceagencies involved. No. It’s an ESA responsibility.”According to published reports, an ESA official said earlier that themissing command was part of a software load developed by ESA for the Huygensmission and that it was executed by Cassini as delivered.”There isn’t any doubt that the command was missing,” Southwood saidtoday. “But I’m not going to say any more because the point of an inquiry isto find out. We will certainly have NASA representation on the inquiry, butI don’t want to make a big thing about it.”Tomasko said that before the mission began, his team debated whether tosend all pictures and spectral data in two independent sets using channels Aand B to ensure full redundancy. In the end, they decided to send spectraldata through both channels but to double their picture output by sendingdifferent photos through each radio. The loss of channel A means the teamonly gathered 350 pictures instead of the 700 planned.”So we do have some holes in our panoramic mosaics, but we have a lot ofoverlap in our coverage and I think we can still do a fine job,” he said. “Ithink the quality of the images will continue to get better … as weassemble these mosaics in the days and weeks ahead.”Even the lost wind measurement data will be made up, thanks to aremarkable effort on the ground to monitor a faint carrier signal broadcastby Huygens - the equivalent of a cell phone call at a distance of 751million miles - using a network of 18 radio telescopes around the world.That data, which not as precise as the Doppler information that was lost,should fill in the blanks.Leonid Gurvits, a researcher with the Netherlands-based Joint Institutefor Very Long Baseline Interferometry in Europe, said his team achieved windspeed accuracy levels of one meter per second, or 2.2 mph even thoughHuygens was three-quarters of a billion miles away.”Just as there are malign gods, there are benign gods and with anextraordinary effort that i still frankly can’t believe, the radioastronomers of the world gathered together to look at the littletelephone-level signal coming from the other side of the solar system andwe’re expecting that will be able, with an enormous amount of work … wewill get back wind profiles as we need to get our full picture of the Titanatmosphere.”Video coverage for subscribers only:VIDEO:THE NEW PICTURES PRESENTED WITH EXPERT NARRATION VIDEO:LISTEN TO SOUNDS FROM HUYGENS WITH NARRATION AUDIO:LISTEN TO SOUNDS FROM HUYGENS WITH NARRATION VIDEO:RESULTS FROM HUYGENS’ SURFACE SCIENCE PACKAGE VIDEO:CHIEF SCIENTIST EXPLAINS COMMUNICATIONS ERROR VIDEO:TODAY’S PHOTO AND SCIENCE BRIEFING AUDIO:TODAY’S PHOTO AND SCIENCE BRIEFING VIDEO:THE FIRST PICTURE FROM HUYGENS IS REVEALED VIDEO:HUYGENS POST-LANDING NEWS BRIEFING VIDEO:STATUS REPORT DURING DESCENT AUDIO:MISSION STATUS REPORT DURING DESCENT VIDEO:HUYGENS PRE-ARRIVAL NEWS BRIEFING AUDIO:HUYGENS PRE-ARRIVAL NEWS BRIEFING VIDEO:OVERVIEW OF HUYGENS PROBE’S SCIENCE OBJECTIVES VIDEO:JULY NEWS BRIEFING ON CASSINI’S PICTURES OF TITAN VIDEO:PICTURES SHOWING TITAN SURFACE FROM OCT. FLYBY VIDEO:WHAT’S KNOWN ABOUT TITAN BEFORE THE FIRST FLYBY VIDEO:NARRATED MOVIE OF CLOUDS MOVING NEAR SOUTH POLE VIDEO:OCT. BRIEFING ON RADAR IMAGES OF TITAN SURFACE Ares 1-X PatchThe official embroidered patch for the Ares 1-X rocket test flight, is available for purchase.Apollo CollageThis beautiful one piece set features the Apollo program emblem surrounded by the individual mission logos.Expedition 21The official embroidered patch for the International Space Station Expedition 21 crew is now available from our stores.Hubble PatchThe official embroidered patch for mission STS-125, the space shuttle’s last planned service call to the Hubble Space Telescope, is available for purchase. | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Scientists marvel at photos BY WILLIAM HARWOOD

Posted: May 1, 2009T-00:00LiftoffThe Delta 2 rocket’s main engine and twin vernier steering thrusters are started moments before launch. Six of the nine strap-on solid rocket motors are ignited at T-0 to begin the mission.T+01:04.0SRB BurnoutThe ground-start Alliant TechSystems-built solid rocket motors consume all their propellant and burn out.T+01:05.5Air-Lit SRM IgnitionThe three remaining solid rocket motors strapped to the Delta 2 rocket’s first stage are ignited.T+01:26.0Jettison SRBsThe spent solid rocket boosters are jettisoned to fall into the Pacific Ocean. The spent casings remained attached until the vehicle passed into preset drop zone, clear of offshore oil platforms.T+01:30.0Begin Dog-legAfter initially flying from Vandenberg along a 196-degree flight azimuth, the rocket begins steering itself to obtain the desired orbital inclination. This dog-leg maneuver continues for 42 seconds.T+02:11.5Jettison Air-Lit SRMsHaving burned out, the three spent air-started solid rocket boosters are jettisoned toward the Pacific Ocean.T+04:23.4Main Engine CutoffAfter consuming its RP-1 fuel and liquid oxygen, the Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne RS-27A first stage main engine is shut down. The vernier engines cut off moments later.T+04:31.4Stage SeparationThe Delta rocket’s first stage is separated now, having completed its job. The spent stage will fall into the Pacific Ocean.T+04:36.9Second Stage IgnitionWith the stage jettisoned, the rocket’s second stage takes over. The Aerojet AJ118-K liquid-fueled engine ignites for the first of two firings needed to place the STSS-ATRR spacecraft into the proper orbit.T+04:41.0Jettison Payload FairingThe 10-foot diameter payload fairing that protected the STSS-ATRR cargo atop the Delta 2 during the atmospheric ascent is jettisoned is two halves.T+10:04.6Second Stage Cutoff 1The second stage engine shuts down to complete its first firing of the launch. The rocket and attached spacecraft are now in a coast period before the second stage reignites.T+52:51.9Second Stage RestartDelta’s second stage engine reignites for a short firing to adjust the orbit.T+53:13.0Second Stage Cutoff 2The second stage shuts down after a 21-second burn that injects the payload into its desired near-circular, sun-synchronous orbit.T+58:00.0Payload SeparationThe Space Tracking and Surveillance System Advanced Technology Risk Reduction satellite, or STSS-ATRR, is released from the Delta 2 rocket to complete the launch.Data source: ULA.Final Shuttle Mission PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The crew emblem for the final space shuttle mission is now available in our store. Get this piece of history!STS-134 PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The final planned flight of space shuttle Endeavour is symbolized in the official embroidered crew patch for STS-134. Available in our store!Ares 1-X PatchThe official embroidered patch for the Ares 1-X rocket test flight, is available for purchase.Apollo CollageThis beautiful one piece set features the Apollo program emblem surrounded by the individual mission logos.Project OrionThe Orion crew exploration vehicle is NASA’s first new human spacecraft developed since the space shuttle a quarter-century earlier. The capsule is one of the key elements of returning astronauts to the Moon.Fallen Heroes Patch CollectionThe official patches from Apollo 1, the shuttle Challenger and Columbia crews are available in the store. | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Delta 345 launch timelineSPACEFLIGHT NOW

STORY WRITTEN FOR & USED WITH PERMISSIONPosted: January 14, 2005A huge radio telescope at Green Bank, West Virginia, was able to detectand lock onto a faint carrier signal from the Huygens Titan probe for morethan two hours this morning, confirming the spacecraft’s continued descentthrough the moon’s atmosphere following a high-speed entry around 5:13 a.m. EST (1013GMT).A second radio telescope now has picked up the signal as well and EuropoeanSpace Agency project scientist Jean-Pierre Lebreton said engineers were evenable to confirm at least one of the probe’s six on-board instruments hadactivated as planned.Touchdown on Titan’s surface was expected around 7:34 a.m.But detection of a carrier - a feat equivalent to picking up a cell phonecall from 751 million miles away - only means the spacecraft was alive andthat it survived the rigors of atmospheric entry. Confirmation that actualscience data was collected won’t be available until 11:15 a.m. EST, afterNASA’s Cassini spacecraft relays recorded data to Earth.”We’ve got a long way to go,” said ESA science director David Southwood.”As far as i’m concerned,the baby is out of the womb, but we’ve yet to countthe fingers and toes, so we’ve still got a long way to go. But it’s a majorstep, a major engineering step. You can probably detect a certain relief onmy face. That’s real. But there’s still a long way to go before the fullbaby is revealed.”NASA science chief Al Diaz said detection of the carrier signal “meansthat probably one of the most difficult entry activities ever done has justbeen accomplished successfully.”Ares 1-X PatchThe official embroidered patch for the Ares 1-X rocket test flight, is available for purchase.Apollo CollageThis beautiful one piece set features the Apollo program emblem surrounded by the individual mission logos.Expedition 21The official embroidered patch for the International Space Station Expedition 21 crew is now available from our stores.Hubble PatchThe official embroidered patch for mission STS-125, the space shuttle’s last planned service call to the Hubble Space Telescope, is available for purchase. | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Huygens mission ends BY WILLIAM HARWOOD

STORY WRITTEN FOR & USED WITH PERMISSIONPosted: March 9, 2006Pockets of liquid water may exist near the surface of Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus, the apparent source of huge Yellowstone-type geysers seen erupting from the moon’s south polar region by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, scientists reported today. If so, Enceladus would join a very short list of bodies in the solar system with environments that could, in theory at least, support life. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science InstituteDownload larger image version “What we have found on Enceladus - simple organics, excess heat and evidence for liquid water - represents the Holy Grail of modern day planetary exploration, and we’ve just stumbled upon it,” said Cassini imaging team leader Carolyn Porco. “How cool is that?”It is not yet clear what process might be generating the energy needed to thaw ice in the ultra cold realm, but it may be a combination of natural radioactive heating and tidal flexing caused by Saturn’s gravity, coupled with an era of heating in the past.While the heat source is not yet clear, the results are. High resolution images and data from other instruments aboard Cassini show towering plumes erupting from long fractures dubbed “tiger stripes” in the fractured terrain near the south pole. Based on the volume and size of the ice particles spewing out, scientists believe they may originate from near-surface reservoirs of water that have been warmed above the freezing point.”This finding has substantially broadened the range of environments in the solar system that might support life,” Porco said in an email. “And it doesn’t get any more significant than that. I’d say that if we did nothing else at Saturn, this discovery alone and its possible biological implications would have made the Cassini mission worthwhile.”Additional coverage for subscribers:VIDEO:CASSINI IMAGERY OF ENCELADUS VIDEO:INTERVIEW WITH CASSINI SCIENTIST The Cassini imaging team, led by Porco of the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo., reported the findings in the current issue of Science magazine.Carrying a suite of sophisticated instruments, Cassini braked into orbit around Saturn in July 2004 after a seven-year voyage from Earth. Since then, it’s been looping around the planet in a series of ever-changing orbits, studying its spectacular ring system, its atmosphere, the space environment near Saturn and many of the planet’s more interesting moons. Much of the early attention has been focused on Titan, a moon larger than Mercury that is shrouded in a thick atmosphere.The much smaller Enceladus, just 300 miles or so across but one of the brightest moons in the solar system, has long been a target of interest because of earlier observations that hinted at an unusual surface. Cassini’s observations have raised that interest to a new level. Plumes of icy material extend above the southern polar region of Saturn’s moon Enceladus as imaged by the Cassini spacecraft in February 2005. The monochrome view is presented along with a color-coded version on the right. The latter reveals a fainter and much more extended plume component. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science InstituteDownload larger image version “Images taken as early as 16 January 2005, images acquired during the February and July 2005 flybys, and those taken in late November 2005 have yielded striking visual evidence of many narrow jets of fine icy particles emanating from the south polar terrain,” the imaging team wrote in Science.”They also have yielded indications of extreme geologic youth in the SPT, morphological evidence of a change over time in surface stresses in the southern hemisphere, and possible evidence of an epoch of intense heating in the past.”During the November 2005 flyby, Cassini images revealed “many distinct near-surface jets, emanating from the surface in a variety of directions and supplying a much bigger, fainter plume towering over the south polar region by at least 435 km (270 miles),” the team wrote.The source of the jets appears to be the so-called tiger stripes, a family of long, roughly parallel features that are typically 1,600 feet or so deep, about a mile wide and some 80 miles long. Most of the ice seen erupting in plumes falls back to the surface, but about 1 percent escapes and contributes to Saturn’s E ring.”At the moment, we interpret these observations to indicate that the south polar jets are the primary source of the E-ring,” the science team writes. “The fact that almost all of the observed particles in the jets’ extended plume are falling back to the surface may explain the extreme brightness of the interstripe plains as being due to freshly fallen snow.”As for the heat source, there are two possibilities: “either sublimating ice, above or below ground, or underground reservoirs of boiling liquid erupting through vents in the tiger stripes.” The second option seems to fit the observations best and “the erupting mixture of vapor and liquid - or, in the case of Enceladus, vapor, liquid and ice particles - is like a cold Yellowstone geyser.”Heat from radioactive decay and tidal stress alone do not appear sufficient to produce the presumed reservoirs. But the moon may have undergone more extreme heating in the past due to changes in its orbital path around Saturn and the lingering traces of that heat, plus the ongoing radioactive and tidal processes, just might be enough to produce the necessary heating. As Saturn’s active moon Enceladus continues to spew icy particles into space, scientists struggle to understand the mechanics of what is going on beneath the fractured south polar terrain. This graphic illustrates key aspects of the model proposed by the Cassini imaging science team. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science InstituteDownload larger image version While scientists don’t yet understand the details of how liquid water can exist close to the surface of such a cold world, “we cannot exclude the possibility that the processes producing the observed heating might result in local regions with even higher temperatures, leading to subsurface reservoirs of liquid water.”Based on data from NASA’s Galileo Jupiter probe, researchers believe the jovian moon Europa and others may harbor subsurface reservoirs of water. But in those cases, the presumed water is at least several miles below the surface and no plumes like those seen rising from Enceladus have been obsesrved.Porco said the reservoirs on Enceladus may be no more than a few tens of meters deep.”We previously knew that Mars, the subsurface of Mars, might have water and therefore living organisms,” Porco told CBS News. “We knew that moons like Europa around Jupiter … might also be regions or bodies where we might find subterranean water. But now Enceladus has become and even more exciting target because this is a body where the water is closer to the surface. And also, it’s not bathed in the intense radiation environment that Europa is.”Porco said the discovery could lead to “a redirection of our plans in exploring the solar system to focus on Enceladus as the next body we go to.”But not in the near term. NASA funding for space science is being cut back to help pay for the Bush administration’s program to send astronauts back to the moon as a prelude for eventual manned flights to Mars.John Glenn Mission PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The historic first orbital flight by an American is marked by this commemorative patch for John Glenn and Friendship 7.Final Shuttle Mission PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The crew emblem for the final space shuttle mission is available in our store. Get this piece of history!Celebrate the shuttle programFree shipping to U.S. addresses!This special commemorative patch marks the retirement of NASA’s Space Shuttle Program. Available in our store!Anniversary Shuttle PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!This embroidered patch commemorates the 30th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Program. The design features the space shuttle Columbia’s historic maiden flight of April 12, 1981.Mercury anniversaryFree shipping to U.S. addresses!Celebrate the 50th anniversary of Alan Shephard’s historic Mercury mission with this collectors’ item, the official commemorative embroidered patch.Fallen Heroes Patch CollectionThe official patches from Apollo 1, the shuttle Challenger and Columbia crews are available in the store.Ares 1-X PatchThe official embroidered patch for the Ares 1-X rocket test flight, is available for purchase.Apollo CollageThis beautiful one piece set features the Apollo program emblem surrounded by the individual mission logos.Expedition 21The official embroidered patch for the International Space Station Expedition 21 crew is now available from our stores.Hubble PatchThe official embroidered patch for mission STS-125, the space shuttle’s last planned service call to the Hubble Space Telescope, is available for purchase. | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Cassini finds puzzles in Saturn’s ring ingredients NASA/JPL ANNOUNCEMENTPosted: July 2, 2004Just two days after the Cassini spacecraft entered Saturn orbit, preliminary science results are already beginning to show a complex and fascinating planetary system. One early result intriguing scientists concerns Saturn’s Cassini Division, the large gap between the A and B rings. While Saturn’s rings are almost exclusively composed of water ice, new findings show the Cassini Division contains relatively more “dirt” than ice. Further, the particles between the rings seem remarkably similar to the dark material that scientists saw on Saturn’s moon, Phoebe. These dark particles refuel the theory that the rings might be the remnants of a moon. The F ring was also found to contain more dirt. Evidence from the visual and infrared mapping spectrometer on the Cassini spacecraft indicates that the grain sizes in Saturn’s rings grade from smaller to larger, related to distance from Saturn. Those data (right) are shown next to a corresponding picture of the rings taken by Cassini’s narrow angle camera. Saturn’s rings are thought to be made up of boulder-size snowballs. By looking at the rings with the visual and infrared mapping spectrometer, the size of the ice crystals, or grains, on the surfaces of those boulders can be determined. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona Another instrument on Cassini has detected large quantities of oxygen at the edge of the rings. Scientists are still trying to understand these results, but they think the oxygen may be left over from a collision that occurred as recently as January of this year. “In just two days, our ideas about the rings have been expanded tremendously,” said Dr. Linda Spilker, of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., deputy project scientist for the Cassini-Huygens mission. “The Phoebe-like material is a big surprise. What puzzles us is that the A and B rings are so clean and the Cassini Division between them appears so dirty.”The visual and infrared mapping spectrometer onboard Cassini revealed the dirt mixed with the ice in the Cassini Division and in other small gaps in the rings, as well as in the F ring.”The surprising fingerprint in the data is that the dirt appears similar to what we saw at Phoebe. In the next several months we will be looking for the origin of this material,” said Dr. Roger Clark, of the U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, Colo., and a member of the Cassini science team. Cassini’s ultraviolet imaging instrument detected the sudden and surprising increase in the amount of atomic oxygen at the edge of the rings. The finding leads scientists to hypothesize that something may have collided with the main rings, producing the excess oxygen. Dr. Donald Shemansky of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, co-investigator for Cassini’s ultraviolet imaging spectrograph instrument, said, “What is surprising is the evidence of a strong, sudden event during the observation period causing substantial variation in the oxygen distribution and abundance.” Although atomic oxygen has not been previously observed, its presence is not a surprise because hydroxyl was discovered earlier from Hubble Space Telescope observations, and these chemicals are both products of water chemistry.Cassini’s examination of Saturn’s atmosphere began while the spacecraft was still approaching the planet. Winds on Saturn near the equator decrease dramatically with altitude above the cloud tops. The winds fall off by as much 140 meters per second (approximately 300 miles per hour) over an altitude range of 300 kilometers (approximately 200 miles) in the upper stratosphere. This is the first time winds have been measured at altitudes so high in Saturn’s atmosphere.”We are finally defining the wind field in three dimensions, and it is very complex,” said Dr. Michael Flasar of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., principal investigator for Cassini’s composite infrared spectrometer. “Temperature maps obtained now that Cassini is orbiting Saturn are expected to show more detail, helping us to unravel the riddles of Saturn’s winds above the cloud tops.”Early Friday (Pacific Time), Cassini imaged Saturn’s largest moon Titan, one of the prime targets for the mission. Titan is thought to harbor simple organic compounds that may be important in understanding the chemical building blocks that led to life on Earth. Although too cold to support life now, Titan serves as a frozen vault to see what early Earth might have been like. Scientists will receive the new data and images from Titan later Friday.The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA’s Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL designed, developed and assembled the Cassini orbiter.?Additional coverage for subscribers:VIDEO:WATCH FRIDAY’S SCIENCE NEWS CONFERENCE VIDEO:THURSDAY’S NEWS BRIEFING ON CASSINI’S FIRST PICTURES VIDEO:RING PICTURES ARE PRESENTED WITH EXPERT NARRATION VIDEO:CASSINI RE-DISCOVERS TINY MOONS ATLAS AND PAN VIDEO:CASSINI BOOMING SOUNDS FROM BOW-SHOCK CROSSING VIDEO:CASSINI BEGINS ENGINE FIRING TO ENTER ORBIT VIDEO:BURN ENDS SUCCESSFULLY TO PUT CASSINI IN ORBIT VIDEO:POST-ARRIVAL NEWS CONFERENCE VIDEO:WEDNESDAY’S 12 P.M. EDT CASSINI STATUS BRIEFING VIDEO:A LOOK AT INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION VIDEO:’RING-SIDE CHAT’ ABOUT SPACE EXPLORATION VIDEO:AN OVERVIEW OF CASSINI’S RADIO SCIENCE VIDEO:TUESDAY’S CASSINI MISSION OVERVIEW BRIEFING VIDEO:CASSINI’S ARRIVAL AT SATURN EXPLAINED VIDEO:SCIENCE OBJECTIVES FOR CASSINI ORBITER VIDEO:HUYGENS LANDER SCIENCE OBJECTIVES Apollo CollageThis beautiful one piece set features the Apollo program emblem surrounded by the individual mission logos.Apollo 12 tribute DVD setNew!Featuring the jovial crew of Pete Conrad, Dick Gordon and Alan Bean, the Apollo 12 mission was struck by lightning shortly after liftoff but proceeded on the second successful exploration voyage to the lunar surface. This three-disc DVD brings the mission to life with extraordinary detail.Choose your store: - - - Fallen Heroes special patchThis special 12-inch embroidered patch commemorates the U.S. astronauts who made the ultimate sacrifice, honoring the crews of Apollo 1, Challenger and Columbia.Choose your store: - - - Women in SpaceWomen of Space: Cool Careers on the Final Frontier is for girls, young women, and anyone else interested in learning about exciting careers in space exploration. Includes CD-ROM.Choose your store: - - - Mars rover posterThis new poster features some of the best pictures from NASA’s amazing Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity.Choose your store:Columbia ReportA reproduction of the official accident investigation report into the loss of the space shuttle Columbia and its crew of seven. Choose your store: - - - Mars PanoramaDISCOUNTED! This 360 degree image was taken by the Mars Pathfinder, which landed on the Red Planet in July 1997. The Sojourner Rover is visible in the image. Choose your store:Apollo 11 Mission ReportApollo 11 - The NASA Mission Reports Vol. 3 is the first comprehensive study of man’s first mission to another world is revealed in all of its startling complexity. Includes DVD!Choose your store: - - - Rocket DVDIf you’ve ever watched a launch from Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Vandenberg Air Force Base or even Kodiak Island Alaska, there’s no better way to describe what you witnessed than with this DVD.Choose your store: - - - Ares 1-X PatchThe official embroidered patch for the Ares 1-X rocket test flight, is available for purchase.Apollo CollageThis beautiful one piece set features the Apollo program emblem surrounded by the individual mission logos.Expedition 21The official embroidered patch for the International Space Station Expedition 21 crew is now available from our stores.Hubble PatchThe official embroidered patch for mission STS-125, the space shuttle’s last planned service call to the Hubble Space Telescope, is available for purchase. | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Cassini flies past Titan; pictures expected tonight BY WILLIAM HARWOOD

After I initially left a comment I appear to have clicked on the -Notify
me when new comments are added- checkbox and from now on each time a
comment is added I recieve 4 emails with the
exact same comment. There has to be a means you are
able to remove me from that service? Appreciate it!

Howdy! I know this is kind of off topic but I was wondering which blog
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great if you could point me in the direction of a good platform.